Shadow Island
by Relaxing Pikachu
Summary: Ash is ready for the Indigo League, but received some last minute info from Oak about needing another badge from a new gym. He must travel to an island that isn't very well-known and is shrouded in mystery. Will Ash get the badge and discover the secrets that surround this enchanted island or was it all just a ruse to get him there? Read on to find out.
1. A Brand New Adventure!

Hello again everyone. This is the continuation of The Biggest Battle in the Life of Ash Ketchum. Just like with the previous story, I've decided to rewrite this one as well, and to be honest, this one will be much easier to do that with, mainly because I do have the entire story intact. I don't with the prequel. This story was originally started April 2000, so it's still following the dynamic of the first generation, Kanto series and even at that point, I still hadn't seen much of the anime and was still really behind compared to those elsewhere. I'd also like to point out that this was written before I'd ever had the opportunity to play Pokémon Gold/Silver, so by today's standards, the concepts originally presented and used in this story are pretty…outdated, but I do hope that you all will give it a chance anyway.

All of the above information aside, if you haven't read the previous story, you should still be able to follow this one, even though there are a few things that are referenced from the prequel to this fic, which I will share with your now, the first one being that Ash and Misty became a couple in the last fic.

For the last story - which was an alternate telling of how Ash received his Earth Badge - both Kenji (Tracey) and Todd became part of the group. Both were on their ways to Viridian. Todd was on his way there as he'd written Misty informing her of this. Kenji bumped into them coincidentally as I changed up the events of how Ash received the Volcano Badge from Blaine and how they'd met Kenji there, parted ways, and then met one another again while on the way to Viridian.

Team Rocket was disbanded, and both main Rocket teams (Jessie, James, and Meowth/ Butch and Cassidy) along with Mondo (Rocket assistant) pretty much go along on their own non-Rocket paths. They all worked together in the last story given the mission Giovanni gave them, and even they all felt that it was a bit out of line. They will appear in this story though.

Also, in the last story, you find out why Misty and her sisters are in charge of the gym and the whereabouts of their parents. Both were brutally killed by Giovanni and his henchmen when Misty was only four, and she was the only witness at the time. The incident was so traumatizing, she blocked it out. While traveling with Ash and Brock, though, the closer the group was getting to Viridian, the more her repressed memory of the forgotten incident started surfacing.

Another character who joined in the last story was a Growlithe, who Kenji befriended after finding him nearly beaten to death. The Growlithe had once belonged to Giovanni and disobeyed him. Giovanni had given orders to dispose of the Growlithe, as he had information that he was willing to pass along to the Officer Jenny in Viridian (who does understand the speech of Growlithe and Arcanine). He wanted Giovanni to pay for all of his past crimes and current ones and managed to sacrifice his own life to get that message out and Giovanni put away.

One last thing, Ash ended up battling against Giovanni, who unleashed a mind-controlled Mewtwo, who will appear in this story.

Now, as a reminder, if you see anything with an asterisk, there's an author's note about it at the end of the chapter. Also, anything using single quotation marks indicates that the character is thinking, unless being used in a grammatically correct fashion. If a Pokémon is speaking, and colons are present, it's indicating that the Pokémon is speaking in its native tongue, but translated for the readers.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, 4Kids, Gamefreak, etc., have those rights, and here are the age reminders once again...

Ash: 13  
>MistyTodd: 14  
>Kenji: 17 going on 18<br>Brock: 19

Shadow Island (2000.04.21)

Part 01: "Misty's Sick?" A Brand New Adventure!

It had been weeks since Ash received the Earth Badge in Viridian and had also finally registered to participate in the Indigo Pokémon League games. Unfortunately, he found out from Professor Oak that there was one more obstacle that he had to face before he could officially join the league. He must travel to a new place with a newly built gym and defeat the gym leader there. The area's location is a bit curious, though as it's on an island east of Cerulean City called, "Lost Kage Island". Will he manage to obtain this mysterious badge after such short notice?

Ash Title: A Brand New Adventure!

"Too bad you couldn't stay in Pallet a little longer, Ash," a tan-haired boy wearing a striped shirt and khaki shorts by the name of Todd said in disappointment, his camera dangling loosely around his neck. "I really liked your mother's cooking."

A boy with messy, black hair, a white and blue button-down shirt, a black t-shirt underneath, and blue jeans, along with a small yellow rodent at his side (known as a Pikachu) nodded sadly. "Yeah, mom wasn't all that happy about me leaving again." Ash sighed as he fiddled with this Pokémon League cap. The sun was blazing down on them as the group made their way towards Pewter City, via the Viridian Forest, which they'd been traveling for about two days. "She looked _so_ sad when she found out from Professor Oak that I'd be leaving again."

A boy wearing a red headband, an aqua blue t-shirt, tan shorts, and a giant backpack strapped to his back, spoke up next. This was the Pokémon watcher/researcher, Kenji, who also did art projects on the side to make extra money. "I've never heard of this place that we're headed towards," he answered dully. "Well, not _much_ about it anyway," he added as an afterthought.

"Me neither, but when I mentioned it to the Times, they gave me the assignment right away!" Todd spoke up proudly. "They want as many photos as I can possibly take if rare Pokémon are inhabiting there."

Kenji placed a hand on his chin, his walk still remaining quite brisk. "Professor Oak, and Bill of the Lighthouse, asked me to study any Pokémon that I see there and give them a _full_ report once I return."

Todd looked over at Kenji, noticing the perplexed look on his face. "What's wrong with that?"

"Well, Bill only left a message for Professor Oak relaying this. It's just strange to me…I don't know why, though…"

"What's Bill been up to?" Ash asked, stretching his arms.

"He's been on vacation for the past month or two…still strange…"

"Maybe he's involved in some kind of a project and just couldn't come back in time to give the message to you directly," Todd pointed out. "He does research Pokémon for a living. Sometimes I'm away for long periods of time when on assignment too."

Kenji shrugged nonchalantly, as he looked towards the hyper, cap-wearing boy who was on his right side.

"We're going to Pewter first to get Brock," Ash said while pumping a fist into the air, jumping slightly. The tall pale Pokémon beside Ash gave him a quizzical look, curious as to why the boy was acting in such a fashion. Not saying anything, the Psychic Pokémon, Mewtwo, ignored it and returned to staring straight ahead and continuing his walk. "I told him about that island place and he said that he'd never heard of it, and Brock usually always knows about stuff like that."

"I wonder why Professor Oak waited until two weeks before the league matches before actually mentioning that you needed some 'mysterious badge' from some gym we've never even heard of."

"I don't know, Kenji. He just told me that he forgot when I first got back to Pallet weeks ago. At first, he told me that the league games were going to be near the Seafoam Islands."

"I don't think the Professor has it all upstairs, Ash," Todd frowned, obliviously fanning himself. "Everyone knows that they're held at the Indigo Stadium for this region."

The Pokémon Trainer was growing anxious, and a bit bored with the walk through the forest, which was growing warmer by the moment. "When are we going to get to Pewter?"

"It shouldn't be too much longer." Todd looked over to Ash. "What does the map say?"

"Map?" Todd nodded as they all came to a halt. "I thought Kenji had the map!"

Hearing his name, Kenji turned his attention to the two younger boys. "_Me_? I thought Mis-"

":According to the map, we should get there in about 30 minutes.:" a certain yellow rodent interrupted. The others looked down at Pikachu, who was a few paces ahead of them, a folded up paper opened.

Ash nearly fell over the sight. "Pikachu, since when did _you_ learn how to read a map?"

":Since you kept getting us lost,:" he answered back in slight annoyance.

The Pokémon Trainer was the only one, pretty much, who could understand Pikachu's speech, as well as his other Pokémon, although, some of the others could sometimes figure out the gist of what Pikachu was saying.

"What do you mean 'since you kept getting us lost'! I've _never_ gotten us lost!"

The others began to look around, suddenly interested in their surroundings, and sweat-dropped from Ash's declaration.

":The _only_ time I can think of where you didn't get us lost was when you _took_ Misty's bike to get me to the Viridian City Pokémon Center!:"

Kenji lowered his head, sadness now overtaking him some. He was starting to understand Pikachu since he'd been around him for the past few weeks, including the extra month they all had to spend in Viridian for Giovanni's trial. He could pick up on the names Pikachu used as well as "Viridian City", but unfortunately, he couldn't figure out the rest of what he'd said.

"Damn Giovanni," Kenji cursed angrily under his breath. "He should've received death for all the crimes he committed and the lives he ruined, especially for what he did to Growlithe and Misty's parents!"

Mewtwo, who had remained practically silent, walked over to the Pokémon artist, stopping short in front of him. "I am sorry for what my master did," he apologized sympathetically, an emotion he had learned about just by "studying the humans" these past few weeks.

Kenji sighed over Mewtwo's words. Although he appreciated the gesture, he couldn't help but feel even more down. "It's not your fault, Mewtwo. You weren't responsible for neither Growlithe's death nor were you for Misty's parents. From what _I've_ observed, Pokémon aren't bad, just their trainers. You're the perfect example of this, Mewtwo. You weren't bad, only Giovanni was. That's why you're allowed to walk around freely. No one blames you for what happened."

The others nodded in agreement as they started off again. About twenty minutes passed, the edge of the forest coming into view. ":Hey, there's Pewter!:" Pikachu announced while pointing ahead.

"Finally, let's go!"

With Todd's words, they all ran towards the Pewter City entrance. The city was quite a dry place, perfect for training, raising, or even breeding Rock or Ground Pokémon . The group went directly to the Pewter City Gym, excited on meeting up with their friend again.

The passionate, narrow-eyed Pokémon Breeder was currently the temporary leader as his father had fallen ill, so when heading back to Pallet, Brock returned to Pewter. To help with the workload, Brock and Flint took turns running the gym, while also preparing the next oldest of the clan to take over after Brock leaves.

Once arriving at the doors of the building, they entered, walking down a long, dimly lit hall. They arrived at another set of doors, but before going in, Ash motioned for everyone else to hang back a little once entering the battling arena, except for Pikachu. Confused, his traveling companions nodded quietly.

They entered the double doors, glad to find that no one was around or battling against their old friend. The gym was still the way he remembered it when he encountered Brock his first time. Rocks decorated the arena, giving Brock's Rock and Ground Pokémon the advantage. On the opposite side of the gym, there was a platform, and amongst it was a shadowy figure, sitting comfortably.

Ash took a deep breath, cupping his hands around his mouth, and shouting, "HEY, I CHALLENGE THE PEWTER CITY GYM LEADEER TO A MATCH!"

The person on the platform stood, stepping forward onto the podium directly in front of the platform, the shadows no longer hiding his face. His hair was a spiky brown, his eyes narrowed and slit-like, and he was currently wearing an orange shirt and dark-brown pants. Ash smirked, glad that it was definitely Brock there as opposed to his father or brother, as Brock had explained to him how the three of them had been switching off.

"I accept your challenge," Brock told the boy routinely, who still hadn't recognized. "This will be a two-on-two battle, and all official gym rules apply. There will also be no time limit." He crossed his arms as he looked down at the trainer, but only partially paying attention to him, trying his best to intimidate his opponent. "I'm sure that I'll beat you. You don't look like you'll be a match for my Rock Pokémon ."

The boy didn't reply and Brock finally decided to examine his opponent, who had finally stepped forward to show himself better. This allowed Brock to notice two things about this challenger: he was wearing a Pokémon League cap and had a small Pikachu by his side.

"Ash? Wow, Ash!" Brock leapt from the podium and made his way over to Ash, and the group who were still a short ways behind Ash. "It's been a long time since I've seen you all. I forgot you guys were coming today!"

Everyone else greeted Brock with a typical "hi" and "glad to see you". After Brock's greetings towards Kenji, Todd, and Mewtwo, he started to look around curiously.

"What's wrong, Brock?"

"Where are Misty and Togepi? She's usually always by your side, even be_fore_ the two of you became a couple."

Ash, as well as the others, turned around to notice that a certain red-haired Water Pokémon trainer was conspicuously absent, as well as the chirping and gleeing of Togepi.

"You know, I don't remember Misty saying much of anything on our way here," Kenji said while thinking back. "I don't recall saying much to her since breakfast."

"Same for me," Todd spoke up, feeling repulsed for not noticing his redheaded friend. "She was kind of quiet yesterday too, now that I think about it."

"I, too, have not heard the redheaded one speak much since her morning consumption of food."

Pikachu shook his head sadly, realizing that he, like Mewtwo, also hadn't noticed her much since that morning.

"I didn't notice her either, and I _should_ have," Ash muttered in embarrassment. "I guess we were all so excited that we were finally getting close to Pewter that we kinda overlooked her and Togepi." He lowered his head. "I must've done something wrong and now she's probably so mad at me, she stormed off!"

Kenji patted the younger boy on the back. "Don't blame yourself, Ash. It's all our faults."

Not really listening, Ash became slightly hysterical, and was now very worried. Brock was definitely right. Misty usually stuck with him, and wouldn't usually take off unless she let someone know. She was quite considerate in that regard. "Waaaah, Misty! Where are you?! I'm sorry for whatever I did! Please forgive me!"

As if on cue, a slim girl, who kept her hair tied up in a single ponytail to the side, wore suspenders, short jean-shorts, and a yellow midriff, holding an egg-shaped Pokémon shuffling through the double doors. She forced on a weak smile, her face slightly pale, and quietly uttered, "I'm right here Ash." She looked to the temporary gymleader. "Hey Brock." She then turned her attention back to the confused, yet relieved trainer. "I forgive you, Ash," she lightly laughed.

Togepi chirped sadly.

Kenji and Todd rushed over to Misty. "Where were you?" the researcher questioned.

"I was just walking a little slower than you guys, that's all," she firmly insisted. "I was just feeling a bit…nauseous, and had to, erm...r-relieve myself."

"So, in other words, you went to the restroom to barf."

Misty frowned at Todd's usage of words and sweat dropped. "Y-yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Ash asked.

"How long have you been like this?" Todd inquired.

"How come you didn't tell us that you weren't feeling well?" Kenji asked in a brotherly fashion.

"It's been a couple of days, but I'm fine. I didn't want to slow anyone down."

Kenji stared over at the girl. 'She did a good job of hiding that she wasn't feeling well, but that may explain why she's been so much quieter since leaving Pallet.'

"Misty," Brock began gently, "maybe you should go see a doctor if you've been sick lately. You also look a bit pale."

She shook her head assuredly.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Misty." Kenji gestured towards Brock. "He's right; if you're sick, you should see a doctor, and we shouldn't travel until you're 100% better."

"No, no, I'm fine!" She felt cold at the moment, but figured it was from the air-conditioning of the gym. "We should hurry and leave so that Ashie Boy here can get to that new island and get that badge."

"We should get to Cerulean in a few hours on foot with the route Kenji planned out for us, if," Todd looked over at Ash, "we don't get lost."

The look from Todd went unnoticed by the 13 year old, as he continued staring at his redheaded partner. "Misty, if you're feeling bad, you really shouldn't be traveling."

"Maybe I'm just hungry."

"I feel that the cap-bearer is correct," Mewtwo wisely interjected. "Maybe you should heed his advice."

Misty gave Mewtwo a look, which caused _him_ to back down, and refrain from saying anything else further on the subject.

"If you're certain that you're all right, I guess we can leave," Ash said with loads of skepticism, but that soon changed, as he grew excited again, "but let's all eat lunch first or maybe a small snack so that we can pig out once we get to Cerulean this evening. It's only a little bit before noon now."

At the boy's casualness, everyone face-faulted from his reply. All three boys, after picking themselves up, shouted to the clueless one, "Misty's sick!"

Cowering down, Ash innocently responded, "Bu-but she said that she was hungry."

"I'm fine!" Misty insisted, punching a fist up into the air. "A big meal sounds wonderful! Let's have a small meal here and some drinks, and then head off to Cerulean. All I know is that I _am_ really hungry." She lowered her arm and rested her index finger on her chin, as if in though. "My appetite's been odd these past few days too…"

Everyone looked at her in amazement. Ash, Kenji, and Todd knew that Misty's appetite had increased within the past few days, but didn't bother mentioning it or acknowledging it. Brock closed the gym and led them to his home and prepared some snacks with Kenji's help. Misty, however, shoveled all a lot of the food down, and gulped down some green tea that Kenji had brewed.

After the meal, Brock let his father know that he was finally leaving and also gave his younger brother encouragement to help run the gym. Brock's family was sad to see him go again, but understood how his fate wasn't to remain there always as he had his own path to follow.

With that, they started off towards Ceruelan, in hopes of arriving in the early evening. During the walk, Misty would follow along, albeit slowly, but every time Ash or anyone else looked back to check on her, she put on a smile and would quicken her pace to that of a steady one.

They all arrived in Cerulean with no problems at all by the mid-evening, thanks to Kenji's alternate route, which didn't include having to go through Mt. Moon. Misty did grow slightly queasy, though and did stop a couple of times.

After their arrival in the beautiful city, they all headed directly to the gym and to meet up with Misty's three older sisters.

The trio greeted everyone, glad to see that they made it there safely, but found Misty to be a bit wan and grew concerned. Curious, they, of course, questioned Misty on her health, but she insisted that it was nothing, anxious to eat dinner at an all-you-can-eat place. Brock suggested that she rest for a while, but she wouldn't hear any of it.

After the protests from Misty, realizing that there was no way of persuading the redhead otherwise, they all boarded a Rapidash drawn carriage, to dine at one of the best, yet casual-style, restaurants Cerulean had to offer...


	2. The Interrogation

Hello again everyone. I hope you liked the previous chapter. The group is now in Cerulean and about to have a quick dinner. I hope you don't mind this slight delay before the group officially heads off to the island, which will occur in chapter 4. This chapter have the sisters curious over Misty's condition.

Oh, something else that I didn't mention last chapter, is that I do sometimes slip in some Japanese phrases here and there, and I definitely will as far as names go, so expect to see "Satoshi", "Kasumi", "Takeshi", "Toru", etc., from time to time.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, 4Kids, Gamefreak, etc., have those rights, and here are the age reminders once again...

Ash: 13  
>MistyTodd: 14  
>Kenji: 17 going on 18<br>Brock: 19  
>Lily: 21<br>Violet: 22  
>Daisy: 23<p>

Part 02: "How's it _my_ fault?" Ash's Interrogation!

The group had finally arrived in Cerulean and are now on their way to a nice restaurant in town. Despite her recent symptoms, Misty didn't complain and insisted on having dinner. Let's hope all goes well for them.

Daisy, Lily, Violet Title: Ash's Interrogation!

During the carriage ride, Misty started to feel slightly queasy as they passed by many different waterfronts, which the city was known for. The color started to slightly leave her face, but no one seemed to notice except for Pikachu and Togepi, as everyone else was engaged in conversation.

":Are you all right, Misty?:" Pikachu asked the girl, as the redhead could also understand Pikachu pretty well.

":Mommy okay?:" Togepi chirped out in concern.

"Oh, don't worry about me, guys," Misty told the two Pokémon confidently. I guess this bumpy ride isn't too good for my stomach."

Right at that moment, the oldest of the sisters took notice of Misty's frail look. She pushed some of her shiny blonde-hair behind her ear. "Like, Misty, are you okay?"

The bright, pink-haired sister spoke up next, also now taking notice of the redhead's complexion. "Yeah, you look totally atrocious. You know, like, more than usual."

Misty glared at Lily in annoyance.

The dark-haired sister of them pulled her white jacket tighter around her, due to the sudden breeziness. "You look really pale too," Violet added on earnestly.

"Misty, if you're sick again, may-"

"I'm fine," Misty interrupted Ash in a huff impatiently. "Riding in a bumpy carriage causes me to have a little motion sickness." Everyone stared at her in slight perplexity, as neither fully believed her. Noticing the accusatory stares, Misty stuttered out, "I'm hungry, so let's hurry up!"

The three sisters exchanged worried glances, the same thought coming to mind, and hoping that it was the opposite of what they feared.

'It can't be," the blonde thought as the carriage continued on, passing by a fountain with an assortment of water Pokémon. 'Are those two even together now? I've never asked and she's never said.'

'Whoa, not Misty,' Violet thought in disbelief. 'I wonder if those two _are_ together…'

Lily stared from Ash to Misty, studying them. 'I wonder if they're a couple now. It's weird because she's never gotten sick before just from a carriage ride. Carriage rides are, like, one of her favorite ways to travel around because it's so 'romantic'.

'She doesn't even get seasick when sailing or surfing with our Pokémon! How can a carriage ride cause her to feel like this?'

The carriage finally came to a halt, the majestic fiery horse-like Pokémon neighing.

"Okay, everybody out," Violet announced. "We're here! The Pokémon Inn Café! It's one of the best casual style restaurants in Cerulean, so our baby sister says." She flashed Misty a smile. "It has a great dessert bar, which Misty absolutely loves."

"That's one impressive Rapidash," Kenji commented after stepping out of the carriage. "You didn't even need a driver to lead him here and I don't recall either of you telling him where to go."

"He's really smart," Lily said while petting him. Rapidash snorted affectionately. "He's been a part of our family for years and seeing Misty, he knew to come here. Misty _always_ comes here when she visits."

The group finally entered the restaurant, which had a giant fountain in the middle and a Dewgong statue. A host walked up to them and led them to a currently secluded section.

"Wow," Ash whistled, taking notice of the nicely decorated facility, "this place looks cool!"

After being seated, they chose the "all you can eat and drink" option. "Buffet" or *"Viking" style".

"I've never been to a place like this before," Brock said. "So, we get our own food and drink, instead of having it served?"

Daisy nodded. "You have the choice of ordering something from the menu or just get the buffet set."

Todd turned partially red in embarrassment, as he hadn't even looked over the menu. Daisy had just ordered for everyone. "Um…how much _does_ the set cost?"

"Oh, don't worry everyone. This is our treat," Lily told them. "We're glad to have you here."

"Yeah, but if you _really_ want to know," Daisy added, "it's about *¥850."

Misty was glad of this, as she was ready for the dessert bar, all the ice cream and cake she could eat. They all rose from their seats and headed to the buffet area. Brock and Kenji were impressed with the amounts of teas they had and how one could brew their own in their own individual ceramic pot. Each pot had its own tea strainer inside and all you had to do was sprinkle the tea in, run hot water over it, and seep it for a minute and to help with that, you could pick up a miniature hourglass.

Todd and Ash went for the soft drinks, as well as Misty. The sisters were more interested in the tea variety.

Once seated with their meals and drinks, they all started to engage in conversation. Misty started to chow down, but soon realized she couldn't eat as much as she thought she could. She pushed her multiple plates aside.

Daisy looked up from her meal. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, I guess I just ate too much."

"Something _must_ be wrong if our kid-sister isn't finishing her ice cream," Lily pointed out. "That's like, your most favorite food ever!"

Ash, who was seated right next to Misty, Daisy on her other side, looked a bit hesitant, as there were people around, but gave in and put his arm around her, pulling her into a slight hug. "I'm a little worried about you. Are you _sure_ you're okay?"

She snuggled up closer to him. "Thanks for the concern, Ash, but really, I'm okay."

Kenji and Brock were surprised that Ash had openly, and affectionately, tried to comfort Misty. Todd inwardly groaned over the mushiness of the display.

The three sisters stared wide-eyed as Ash let go of Misty. They couldn't believe that the two had gotten close in such a way publicly, but it also confirmed the suspicions they'd had earlier.

Kenji gave Misty a sly look as he'd taken notice of Daisy, Lily, and Violet's expressions. "I see someone forgot to mention that you and Ash are a couple now."

Todd, who was seated between Brock and Kenji, and across from Daisy, Misty, Ash, and Violet (who was seated beside Ash) laughed half-heartedly. "It took them forever just to tell us."

At this point, Brock's expression became sullen. "Everyone's getting a girlfriend except me!" He then turned to his left where a certain pink-haired sister sat. "Hey Lily, how about we-"

"Um," she interrupted with a sweat drop, "I'm kinda, like, looking for someone closer to my age."

"How much closer can I get to you?" a love-struck Brock asked in a total dream world.

Everyone sighed over the way Brock was acting. Misty was about to take out her mallet, but decided against it, as she just didn't feel like it at the moment.

"So," Lily began, ignoring the breeder completely, "how long have you two been a couple?"

"Since Ash got his Earth badge and before that _terrible_ trial dealing with Giovanni," Misty shuddered.

"Yeah, but considering how long they've known each other, I'd say their entire journey," a calmed down Brock joked. "The longer we traveled, the more couple-like they became, like an old stubborn married couple."

Ash and Misty slightly blushed, as Brock was right. They did act foolishly around one another as a way to hide their true feelings. Pikachu and Togepi laughed while Mewtwo, who was seated next to Kenji, was consuming a slice of Pokéberry Pie.

Lily stared down at her half-eaten meal and sighed painfully. "I can't believe that horrible man killed our parents, and that you, like, went through so much."

"We're sorry for _ever_ blaming you, Misty!" Violet wanted to make absolutely clear. "We were just really upset at the time because you couldn't remember anything."

"Yeah, like please forgive us!" Daisy pleaded.

The youngest Cerulean sister felt like crying, not out of sadness or grief, but out of appreciation and love for her sisters. She felt truly accepted by them, even if they hadn't come right and said it as of yet, but their more recent actions was more than enough. "It's okay. I knew that you didn't _really_ hate me or anything like that."

"No, of course we didn't hate you and we never will," Daisy resolutely insisted. "You know we love you," she then lightheartedly haughtily added, "even if you _aren't_ as pretty as _we_ are."

"Thanks for the apology, I think," Misty muttered. She picked up her drink and gulped some of it down. She felt slightly repulsed as she felt overly full and nauseated. "I'll be right back," she announced. She rose from her seat and rushed off in the direction of the restroom.

Todd stared after her, shaking his head. "I don't think she's better, even though she insisted that she was." He turned his attention back to the others. "What's wrong with her anyway?"

"It's strange," Daisy said. "She's always been the healthiest of us. When she was younger and had lessons and school, she, like, never missed a day."

"She never caught those typical childhood illnesses either," Violet added, thinking back to their younger days.

"She hardly ever catches a cold and I don't think she's ever had the flu, either."

"Wow, Lily, I think you're right," Kenji nodded. "I've never seen Misty with a cold, even though I haven't been traveling with her as long as Brock or Ash."

"No, she hasn't," Brock concurred. Ash too nodded.

"I guess she's pretty healthy then," Kenji concluded.

"I think Misty said that she started feeling sick a couple of days ago," Ash explained. "I didn't really notice it though because she always eats a lot, but she has been eating more, and now that I think about it, she has been kinda running off to the bathroom," he turned red in embarrassment, "but I don't think that's any of our business."

"And yet, she's so thin," a starry-eyed Lily uttered enviously. "Why can't I eat all the ice cream I want and not gain any weight!"

The others ignored Lily.

"The redheaded one has been in a terrible condition this entire day, but she's been complex about the entire situation. First, she claims to be in perfect health, and then she becomes ill once again." He looked down at his now empty plate and looked towards Ash. "May I be excused to go back to the dessert bar?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, go right ahead Mewtwo."

He stood and stalked off towards the dessert bar for more Pokéberry Pie, which was one of the best tasting foods he'd ever had the honor of consuming.

"Mewtwo sure does have good manners," Ash said in slight amusement, "even though Giovanni used to have complete control over him."

Violet set her napkin down and stood up. "I'm going to check up on Misty."

"Good idea," Brock said, as the dark-haired woman walked off.

"While she goes check on Misty, we can try to figure something out." Kenji leaned back in his chair. "We ought to get her to a doctor."

"Here we go again," Todd groaned. "It just hasn't been her year. First she was *poisoned and now she keeps getting sick."

"So you guys didn't notice the way she was acting?" Daisy asked, although she was most focused on Ash.

"Well, she _has_ been a bit quiet for the past couple of days, and she didn't complain once about bugs or anything when camping out in the Viridian Forest the past couple of nights. I also noticed that she didn't sleep much the night before we left Pallet. She kept slipping out of the room."

Daisy, after hearing that, had her full attention on Ash now. "You two _shared_ a room together?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with us sharing a room together?"

Lily's attention was now also on Ash. It was like the rest of them weren't even there and didn't even notice Mewtwo's return to the table with an ample amount of pie. "Did she share a bed with you?"

Still clueless, the boy answered, "Yeah. She hated the top bunk, so she sometimes slept on mine with me."

Daisy and Lily both looked distressed. "The _same_ bed?!"

Brock, Kenji, and Todd had a million beads of sweat all over their faces. They all got the gist of what the older girls were insinuating about the couple. Even Pikachu picked up on it. Mewtwo wasn't listening at all, as he was too busy consuming pie and Togepi was confused.

Right at that particular moment, Violet returned with Misty.

"So, what's the diagnosis," Violet asked brightly while retaking her seat. The two remaining sisters gave her a look before answering. Violet scratched her head curiously. "What?"

Lily cleared her throat, continuing with the interrogation of the young Pokémon trainer. "Was this a _daily_ occurrence, Ash? You guys sharing?"

"Yeah, all the time; almost every night," Ash answered, still not fully getting it. "Sometimes we didn't sleep, though," he finished up casually. This statement caused Misty to lightly blush.

Violet now looked incredibly distraught over this revelation, but not as much as Todd, who now wore a frown.

'They're only kids,' Kenji thought, trying to convince himself that Misty's current condition wasn't in connection to being with Ash or associated with their closeness.

'What in the world happened after I left?' Brock inwardly fumed. 'Kenji is supposed to be the one in charge!'

Ridding herself of her small blush, Misty asked, "What's wrong with you all? Why are you all so quiet all of a sudden?"

"Erm…Misty, we want you to stay with us tonight," Lily gestured towards Ash, "away from him for a while."

"What? Why?!"

Daisy put a hand on Misty's shoulder. "We totally know what's best for you," she assured her sympathetically.

"Why can't I be with Misty?"

Lily glared at Ash. "You know why!"

"Wait….I do?"

Violet pointed an accusatory finger at the boy. "_You're_ the reason she's so sick!"

"Ash," Todd began awkwardly, which he really wanted to refuse to believe, "please say it isn't true. You always have Pokémon on the brain; I didn't think you of all people would know this route…"

"Wait…_what_?"

"You two are just kids," Kenji argued. "I can't believe you did this Ash, but I also know that it takes two for this happen, so it's not entirely your fault." He stared at Ash, as if studying him. "I kind of figured that he would've been too young…sort of…"

"Too _young_?! I'm going to be 14 soon!"

Misty's eyes were now wide, her face beet red, as she looked over at Ash, finally catching on to what the others had been implying about the pair of them…

Author's Notes

Note 1: Buffet-style restaurants do exist in Japan, but at the time, I didn't know that. They are called "Viking" restaurants.  
>x x x<br>Note 2: In the Pokémon world, the currency is yen, not Poke dollars or whatever. Same goes for the original Japanese games. The currency is Japanese yen.  
>x x x<p>

Note 3: In the last story, Misty had a reaction to Jessie's Lickitung's "Lick" attack, thus her being mildly poisoned.

Fic Chapter Changes

One thing I have been changing is "fourth wall" stuff. The part where Todd inwardly groans over the display was originally written to be Todd complaining to RP to cut it out with the mushy stuff and RP saying that she had to toss it in somewhere and that she's never too mushy because she doesn't like mushy stuff much either.

Another fourth wall change came at the very beginning. Ash and Misty were complaining about the title and wondering what RP meant by it. It was originally called, "It's all Ash's Fault" or something like that. My mind went blank here. Lol

Other change dealt with Brock. After everyone started thinking in the way that they were, Brock started going on about how it wasn't fair that Ash was getting "experience" before him. Well, it was more so implied that's where he was going, but he didn't get much out because he was cut off by a slam with a mallet. RP temporarily stepped in to take Misty's place due to how flabbergasted and shocked she was over what her sisters were insinuating.


	3. Problem Solved!

Hello again everyone. I hope you liked the previous chapter. I hope you don't mind the way Mewtwo will be written for this chapter. I hope he won't come across as out of character or anything.

Anywho, as I mentioned before, the journey to the island starts in chapter 4 and Mewtwo will play a role in this story. A rather interesting one…somewhat. He's going to be directly linked to the plot and I guess you'll get an inkling as to how and why in maybe...chapter 6.

This chapter is longer than usual, and I apologize for this. It's long because there are some notes at the end of this as well as a hefty amount of "fic chapter changes". Many things also occur in this chapter, which includes a short doctor visit, a moment dealing with Misty's parents, and the group preparing to leave. At the end of this chapter, the group finally heads off to the island. I really didn't want to split the chapter up because I wanted to get everything regarding Cerulean out of the way and finished. This chapter isn't fully necessary to read, but some of the things said in this chapter do apply to later situations, Misty's parents especially.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, 4Kids, Gamefreak, etc., have those rights, and here are the age reminders once again...

Ash: 13  
>MistyTodd: 14  
>Kenji: 17 going on 18<br>Brock: 19  
>Lily: 21<br>Violet: 22  
>Daisy: 23<p>

Part 03: "Misty's okay!" Problem Solved!

Last time, the sisters decided to get down to the root of Misty's problem, but now a clueless Ash is trying to figure out why the blame is being put on him. Will he figure it out?

Ash Title: Problem Solved!

"Misty, you wouldn't do something like that, would you?" asked Kenji who was shuffling uncomfortably in his seat. He felt awkward getting on that type of subject. "Ash's mother might not take that kind of news well, for all we know…"

":You shouldn't do things like that! You're too young!:"

":Too young for what, Uncle Pika?:"

":Um…I'll tell you about it when you're older.:"

"What am I too young for?" He grew slightly annoyed over everyone's going on about his age, although still clueless. "I am _not_ too young! I just told you I'm going to be 14 soon, and I can do anything as well as, and maybe even better than, Brock or Kenji!"

Misty's sisters and Todd all gave the two boys a look. Brock and Kenji looked embarrassed and had looks on their faces, wishing they weren't even in the room, given what everyone was thinking regarding Ash and Misty's relationship. Everyone was now wondering just how much Ash _really_ knew about the two older boys' private lies when it came to girls.

"I can't _believe_ you guys are thinking that! Ash and I wouldn't do something like that," Ash blinked in stupidity over his name being mentioned, '…yet.'

"But Misty," Violet spoke, her voice hushed, while trying to keep the younger girl from blowing her top, "you seem to have some of the most common symptoms. Your eating habits have been weird according to them and you've been feeling nauseous. You even had a little bit of motion sickness on the way over here, which is highly unusual for you."

Ash turned his attention towards Violet, a quizzical look etched to this face. "Symptoms?"

"Well, I can assure you that it's _not_ that!"

"But," Todd interjected fearfully, "the two of you always shared a room together and-and he said you sometimes shared the same bunk." He threw Ash an indignant look. "I _was_ there, you know. I slept in the spare room, Kenji stayed with Professor Oak, and _you_ had _his_ room with _him_ in it."

"Oh-ho," Brock snorted, his arms crossed. "So _that's_ why he wasn't around to keep these two in check! He was sucking up to get reviewed by Professor Oak!"

"Wait, hey! I didn't want to impose on Mrs. Ketchum," the boy defensively argued while waving his hands. This was, indeed, true, as there wasn't much space in the small house. "Professor Oak offered for me to stay with him at his lab and to stay on as his assistant for the time I was there. Besides, I was doing work while at the lab to help further my knowledge! I'm a researcher and watcher, not a babysitter!"

"Stop arguing you two!" The last thing the photographer wanted was for the two older boys to get into some kind of physical confrontation with him sitting right in the middle of them. "I should've picked up on something since I was with them."

"Um, I still don't get what you guys are going on about." Everyone, minus Misty, gave the boy a look of disbelief. "Does this have something to do with Misty being sick?"

"Um, Ash, do you know about the 'facts of life'?"

"Yeah, Todd, I guess so, but what does that have to do with Misty being sick?"

Kenji gave off a kind of relieved sigh. "I think we may have jumped to conclusions. Either Ash is a really good actor, or either he's literally naïve on this particular subject, and I don't think he's an actor."

The breeder nodded in agreement. "That has to be it, unless there's a side to Ash that we didn't know about, which would explain why he's putting on this cluelessness act."

"Who cares about Ash right now! _I'm_ the one you should be concerned about!" Misty took out her mallet. Other people looked up from their meals at the scene she was now making, swinging the heavy hammer threateningly. "Do _not_ make me use this! And how _dare_ you make that kind of accusation! We're not doing anything, and even _if_ we were, what business is it of yours?!" the girl fumed. "It's not like we ever have any privacy to begin with!" she added on heatedly, her face going slightly red, as she'd meant to think that as opposed to saying it.

"Well, you can't help but, like, wonder," Daisy muttered dryly.

"Yeah, Ash said some nights the two of you didn't sleep," Lily reminded her. "What are we _supposed_ to think?"

Violet shook her head vigorously, while looking over at Misty. "I am _so_ not ready to become an aunt!"

"Um, I, er…" Ash stuttered, his now sizzling face turning a deep crimson, unsure of what to say. The boy stopped, and then timidly told his redheaded girlfriend, "Um, Misty…how about you go see a doctor to make sure nothing's wrong. I hate it when you're sick."

"I'm fine, but I _am_ mad at you guys for thinking what you were thinking! Let's just get back and rest up so that we can leave tomorrow for that island place!"

Misty picked up Togepi and stormed out of the restaurant in a huff. Others started to murmur amongst themselves, curious as to what the commotion was about, as they couldn't hear the contents of the argument.

"Um…"

"Don't say _any_thing, Ash," everyone shouted, which caused him to jump.

"Okay?" he answered back, still in partial shock. "Um, Mewtwo, we're leaving? I guess we're all going back to the gym?"

Mewtwo, during most of Misty's outburst, had sneaked off to get some more Pokéberry pie. He was now finishing off another slice. "Yes, capbearer." He looked down at the freshly baked pie, deciding to take it with him. "This is quite tasty and appetizing. I must find out the means and ways of creating such a delicacy."

The group left the restaurant, all quiet and on their way back to the Cerulean Gym. Misty was so peeved, she refused to ride back in the carriage. She felt it would be better to walk, to clear her head. Besides, it was a nice night out, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and knew the fresh air would be good for Togepi. Ash, along with Pikachu, decided to join them. During the walk, both the trainer and the electric mouse noticed that Misty was shedding a few tears.

"Misty, what's wrong?!"

"I can't _believe_ they were thinking something like that!" Togepi grew a bit fidgety in Misty's arms, so she set him down so that he could walk alongside Pikachu.

"Me either," Ash responded dazedly.

"Oh, they should know me better than that!"  
>x x x x<br>":I don't think those two did anything…:"

":Am I old enough to know what they're talking about, Uncle Pika?:"

":No, you're not. That was only a short while ago when you asked about it before.:"

":But I _am_ older, Uncle Pika! I'm exactly 10 minutes older!:" Togepi smiled innocently, while Pikachu face-faulted in stupidity.

":I should have never given you that watch _or_ taught you how to use it,:" Pikachu said while picking himself up, ':now if only _Ash_ would learn how to use one…:'  
>x x x x<br>"No offense, Ash, but what you said _was_ pretty stupid."

"What do you mean?"

"Everything you said _really_ gave them the wrong idea."

"Ah, sorry, sorry," he apologized bashfully, a slight tinge of red in his cheeks once again.

"It's okay." Misty vaguely smiled. "Well, those are my sisters for you, and they _were_ only acting that way out of concern for me."

"That's a good thing."

"Yeah, I guess, but what really made them suspicious was when you said we didn't sleep some nights."

"But it's true!"

"Yeah, it is, but you should've specified. How would _they_ know that we sometimes stay up late stargazing and talking, which is really sweet of you to do…"

'If Todd and the others knew about that, I'd never live it down…'

"…or that we stay up late playing games, since you like doing that a lot and how I've even come across you training your Pokémon. I really hate it when people assume things."

"I didn't think about it, but I guess you're right. I guess saying those things in the way that I did, would sound…suggestive."

Misty chuckled, finding the pathetic look on Ash's face adorable and sweet. She knew he meant well. She grabbed his hand, and the two continued the walk.

About 20 minutes later, Ash and Misty arrived at the gym, Togepi and Pikachu right by their sides.

"Wow, we've been walking a while, and there's the gym."

"Yeah," he gulped nervously, "and everyone is there waiting for us."

"Don't worry about it, Ash; let's go."

The two ran up to the gym, their Pokémon right behind them, to first be greeted by the Pokémon artist.

"How are you feeling, Misty?"

"A bit better. The fresh air cooled me off."

"That's good," Brock sighed out in relief, as if his life had been spared. "So, I guess that means you're not going to take out that mallet, eh?" He waggled his eyebrows and sounded hopeful.

"Thanks for reminding me." At those words, Misty took out her mallet, and slammed Brock with it. "Don't press your luck."

Streaked tears ran down his tan face. "What was _that_ for?!"

"For hitting on my sister! I just didn't feel like it earlier!" She put the mallet away and yawned. "I'm tired; can I take a bath and get some sleep now?"

"Sure, but you're going to see a doctor _right_ now!"

"Daisy, I already told you that I'm not-"

"Something is wrong with you! You're going to the doctor whether you want to or not!"

"But Violet, I-"

"Yeah, we totally care about you Misty. We're your sisters."

"_Li_ly…" the girl groaned in exasperation.

"Please go with them, Misty. I hate it when you're sick. You use your mallet more when you're sick."

"I do not!" She slammed the trainer, only not as hard as she had Brock.

"I…rest…my…case…" Ash managed to get out, falling over.  
>x x x x<br>"We're the lucky ones out of this group," Kenji whispered to the photographer. "Misty _never_ hits us."

"Thank goodness."  
>x x x x<br>"Okay, I'll go _just_ to prove that you three," she pointed to the older girls, "aren't about to become aunts!"

"How is she going to see a doctor this late in the evening?" Kenji queried while looking down at his watch. "Aren't all of the clinics closed now?"

"We have one right here in the gym now," Lily told them.

"Since when?" asked Misty in surprise.

"Since Dewgong and Violet's accident," Daisy explained. "She, like, totally scared us!"

"_What_ accident?!"

"Violet slipped and bumped her head, like, really hard during one of our shows, and the CPR wasn't even helping at first! She wasn't even breathing! We _had_ to get someone here right away! Luckily, Dewgong managed to save her when she fell in, though, but Daisy and I thought she was just trying something new. We didn't know that she'd fallen and bumped her head. She was also bleeding pretty badly."

"That's terrible!"

"After that, Lily and I decided that we should have a doctor here, and after Violet got better, we hired one and he does some of his practice here. We feel it's, like, way safer with him around, just in case something happens. His practice is in the basement. He also makes house calls, so he isn't always here."

"That was a total bummer, but thank goodness Dewgong saved me and then the others were able to keep doing CPR on me until the paramedics came."

"Let's go see the doctor," Daisy suggested.

They led the girls to the ground floor of the gym, where all of the living quarters were. They walked to the area that was set aside for the doctor, Sugiyama Hiroki, which doubled as his practice and living area. They entered the waiting room and called for him.

A handsome man with jet-black, shoulder-lengthened hair, wearing thin-rimmed glasses, roughly in his late 20s or early 30s entered the room. He smiled to the sisters…a smile that many women would swoon over. Even the Cerulean sisters found him charming and handsome, and sometimes had to do their bests to remain composed whenever around him.

The group sat down in the room while he took Misty to the back to examine her. About 20 minutes later, both reemerged, a bandage on Misty's arm.

"So, Sugiyama-sensei," Daisy started anxiously, "what's wrong with Misty?"

The man looked down at his chart and then cleared his throat. "First of all, please don't be so formal with me. It's outside of office hours. Call me Hiroki." He turned to the others while clearing his throat. "That goes for you all too. We're all friends here."

The request was strange to the others, but they decided to honor his request. He was pretty laidback for a doctor.

"As for Misty here, I could understand why you were so concerned, but it's not as bad as you think. It's a common, yet strange, stomach flu."

"_Sto_mach flu?"

"Yes, she'll be fine. It's been going around quite a bit lately. It causes one's appetite to increase, but can also cause it to decrease, but in her case, it was an increase.

"In other reported cases, the patient would be running a high fever and suffering from dehydration, and Misty here has mentioned that she's never had a fever, and she hasn't shown any signs of dehydration. As a matter of fact, she seems to be at the tail-end of this illness. Her case was very mild and it definitely helps that she has a good, strong immune system."

"You know, now that you mention it, when I went home, my father was pretty sick," Brock explained. "He was sick for nearly two weeks, but the doctor said it was just a normal flu. He had a high fever, loss of appetite, an achy body, but I never thought of maybe Misty having a type of flu."

"Sounds like your father had a full-blown case of influenza. Either way, seems Misty's body was building up an immunity to it and fought it off. I gave Misty a vaccine to help it along and tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll have the pharmacy prepare some tablets for her to help continue fighting off the bug."

Todd smiled in relief. "Glad to hear it wasn't anything serious."

The doctor yawned and stretched. "Well, I think I'll call it a night gang. See you in the morning."

"Thanks doc!" the others called to him.

"No problem," he told them as he stalked back to the rear room.

"Hey, we forgot to ask if what Misty has is contagious."

"I don't think so, Kenji. The doctor told me that those who have been in close contact with me may have a risk of catching it, and you haven't had any physical contact with since I've been sick, like maybe hugging and stuff like that."

Everyone looked over at Ash, who was fiddling around with his Pokédex. He felt the eyes on him and looked up. "What?"

"Maybe you should let the doctor check you over too," Todd told him briskly.

"Why?"

Brock started to massage his temples. "Didn't you _hear_ what she said? Misty _always_ has physical contact with you because you're her boyfriend! You two do all that mushy stuff."

"We do _not_ act mushy!" Ash shuddered. "I re_fuse_ to!"

"They actually don't," the photographer vouched, "but Ash _is_ most likely to catch what she has more than us."

"Togepi too," Kenji added. "If this can be passed on to Pokémon, he definitely should get checked over at the Pokémon Center."

"Yeah, guess that does make sense, and Pikachu probably should be checked too since he's always hanging around me. I'll ask in the morning since it's a bit late now. If we want to get to that island, we should start out early. *Okido-hakase said that *Shigeru left five days before I did! I want to beat him!"

"Nice," Misty commented dryly. "Take a bath and go to bed, Ash."

x x x x.

The next morning, everyone awoke bright and early, completely refreshed, minus a certain trainer who slept in as late as 10:00. After he did awaken though, he went to see Dr. Sugiyama, who examined him. He didn't show any signs of the stomach virus or flu. As for the Pokémon, he mentioned that it couldn't be passed to them. The doctor did suggest that all of them receive a vaccination to be on the safe side.

"I feel almost 100% again." She and the others, after Ash's diagnosis, and everyone's vaccination, were sitting down to a late breakfast. She gave Togepi a piece of toast, who gladly accepted it.

"Glad to hear it, Misty," Kenji answered while sipping on his tea.

Todd smiled to her. "You look n-nicer too, not like yesterday," he awkwardly complimented. "You look healthy."

Lily, who was spreading marmalade on a slice of toast, rounded on Misty. "Hey, how come you guys have to leave so soon?"

"Yeah, the league games for the entire Kanto region are at least another couple of weeks from now," Daisy slightly moaned in disappointment.

"Because Professor Oak told me that I need to catch some more Pokémon, preferably rare ones, to battle the gym leader at that weird island place. The extra week will give me enough time to train them, and then I can fully qualify for the league."

"I've been meaning to ask about that. Why'd you wait so late to leave?"

"Because Violet," Todd spoke up, slightly annoyed over the situation, "Professor Oak for_got_ to tell him." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I still say he doesn't have it all upstairs."

"I _never_ thought so," Misty muttered under her breath.

Ash stood up, his right fist bawled in determination. "Forget about that, let's just get going."

"I still hate the fact that you guys are leaving so soon," Lily frowned. She then looked towards the tall, pale Pokémon shoveling down pie, which the girls had specially ordered the previous night from one of the best bakery's Cerulean had to offer. "If you need rare Pokémon, why don't you use that Mewtwo of yours?"

"Yeah, Ash," Brock chimed in, "Mewtwo _is_ the ultimate Pokémon."

"First of all, he's not my Pokémon," Ash corrected, "and second of all, it wouldn't be fair."

"What do you mean?"

Mewtwo looked up from his Pokéberry pie, almost regrettably, looking towards Brock. "I can answer that, squinty-eyed one."

Brock made a face, but ignored the comment and let the unique Pokémon talk.

Before continuing, Mewtwo took another quick bite of his pie. "It is a disadvantage because I _am_ one of the strongest Pokémon created and also the only one of my kind in existence. The only ones who have ever come close to defeating me, is that *Togepi and the Articuno the redheaded one has, but that was only because I let them."

Brock's expression grew to one of confusion. "How? Togepi can't be all _that_ powerful. He never battles and he's still young."

"When he was being controlled by Giovanni, his mind wasn't really into it," Ash explained. "A part of him was trying to fight against us, but the other part of him didn't. The part that didn't want to fight was the part that Togepi kind of defeated. Remember we told you that Togepi got upset, and somehow managed to get Articuno out of Mewtwo's Psybeam?" Brock and Kenji nodded. "He didn't really want to battle then."

"He speaks the truth. I pleaded with my master that I didn't want to harm the humans, but he kept ordering me to attack anyway. He almost had complete control over my mind, but I fought back and refused to allow him to as best as I could." He looked towards Misty. "I missed the redheaded one on purpose. I used Foresight to anticipate what that Togepi was planning. I could see that he was going to teleport, which I let him. I didn't counterattack."

"So that's how it was," Todd said, impressed.

Growing tired of the chitchat, Ash took notice of the time. "Hey, look at the time, guys! You all slept in too late!"

Everyone hovered over Ash, their heads ten times their normal size. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOU ALL'!"

"Oh yeah," he sheepishly laughed, "_I _was the one who overslept."

Kenji pulled out his map, checking it over. "You guys, Ash _is_ right, though. We should leave as soon as possible. This place isn't that close and Cerulean is a big city of Kanto."

Ash looked over Kenji's shoulder, down at the map. "Yeah, we have to go to the east coast to get to the shipping docks to get to this island place."

Violet stood up to look over the map as well. "There aren't any shipping docks on the eastern shore of Cerulean. When did they build this gym?"

"Professor Oak didn't say," Ash answered.

"If it's okay with you guys," Misty began absent-mindedly, "I'd like to take a short walk before we leave."

Without waiting for a protest or even an "okay", the girl rose from her seat sullenly, leaving Togepi behind, and went in the direction of the exit.

"I wonder what's with her," Todd said.

"Yeah." Daisy sipped on her cup of coffee. "She looks a little gloomy."

"Hey, I'll go see what's wrong. I'll be right back."

"Okay, Ash." With that, the boy rushed off to catch up to Misty.

Daisy set down her cup and clapped enthusiastically. "Hey, like, since it's a bit late, and the gym is closed today anyway, why don't we give you guys a ride to the eastern shore?"

"Like, totally!" Violet exclaimed. "It'll be fun! Have you guys ever seen all of Cerulean?"

"You know, I don't think I ever have. With my work, I rarely ever go places to get photos of the actual town."

"I'm not from around here and just recently started traveling around for my research and art. I've lived in the Orange Islands my entire life."

"I grew up in Pewter and didn't have much of an opportunity to travel until I met up with Ash and Misty. This is only my third time here in Cerulean."

"Well, how about a carriage ride around Cerulean?" Violet suggested. "It should take no longer than maybe an hour, two at the most." She smirked. "We'll just wait for the two lovebirds to return."  
>x x x x<br>Misty continued her walk, now on a small path behind the gym. Ash, curious as to where she was going, decided to remain at a distance. Of all the times he'd visited the gym, albeit not much, he'd never been to the back of it and didn't even realize just how spacious it was.

The girl finally stopped at a secluded spot, where there was a small pond filled with Goldeen and Magicarp. There were also flowers planted around the garden like area, such as roses, daisies, lilies, and violets. Misty turned her attention to an alter with two marble gravestones that sat directly in front of the exquisite pond.

One of them read:

**Hanada Yamato**  
><strong>Born: 1950.03.23<strong>  
><strong>Died: 1989.04.08<strong>  
><strong>Loved by all due to his love for all Pokémon everywhere.<strong>  
><strong>May his soul rest in peace.<strong>

The other read:

**Hanada Kasumi**  
><strong>Born: 1952.05.11<strong>  
><strong>Died: 1989.04.08<strong>  
><strong>One known for her special skills in the water field.<strong>  
><strong>May her soul rest in peace.<strong>

The young teen stared down at the gravestones, sniffling slightly, as her heart ached. "Hello papa, mama. I know I've never really come here in the past, and only the alter we have set up in the gym, but I always felt way too much pain whenever I did because I felt responsible for your deaths. It's always been a struggle for me.

"I didn't do anything!" Her eyes started to water more, stinging slightly. Her tears weren't due to sorrow, but more so spite. She kneeled, ignoring the Magicarp splashing around in the pond playfully. "I shouldn't have come back. I should've gone to get Officer Jenny when I had the chance, even though you guys hid me safely. I'm sorry I didn't listen. I'm sorry I didn't go for help! I'm sorry my curiosity got the better of me! I'm really sorry! It's all my fault!"

She stared for a bit longer, and then tore her leaky eyes away. "I don't even know what to say," she uttered quietly. "I never got the chance to say goodbye. I didn't go to the service because of how traumatizing it all was. They wouldn't let me out of the hospital because, in my eyes, everything that happened was a nightmare. To me, you were still alive…both taking turns running the gym.

"I would give anything to know that you two are okay." She looked up at the clear blue sky, a flock of Pidgey flying by. "I hope that you're enjoying your afterlife." She looked back down, wiping her now, somewhat red eyes. "I miss you. Why did this have to happen? Why didn't I get help?

"Well, I promise to fulfill your dreams, as well as mine, of becoming a Water Pokémon Master! I always talked about it…before the…the…incident," she trailed off, sniffling louder. 'I can't even bring myself to use the word 'murder'.' She wiped her nose as she sniffled once again. "Papa you said you were so proud of me when I said I wanted to become a water Pokémon trainer. I _will_ make you proud of me! I promise that I will and at least now you can rest peacefully knowing that the evil man who took you away from us is being rightfully punished!"

Misty pulled out a small, folded up sheet of paper from her pocket and started to read over it. Her hands trembled, and unable to hold back anymore, she sobbed directly into it. Ash walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. This startled the girl, as she turned to see who the person was.

"A-Ash?" she hiccupped.

He nodded as he took a closer look at the gravestones. "So, these are your parents?" She didn't answer. "I-I see you were named after your mother."

Misty nodded, still staring at the two stone tablets before her.

"It wasn't your fault, Misty! What were you? Like, four? You were only a kid."

The girl remained quiet as she stood, staring at the ground, her back still to Ash. The small piece of paper she'd been holding, slipped out of her now limp hand. The boy picked it up for her. It was a program from the funeral service.

Misty turned to face the slightly taller trainer, her eyes puffy and red. "I don't even remember what they _look_ like!" the girl sobbed hysterically in disgust with herself. "If they were to walk up to me on the street, I wouldn't even know them! Sure, we have photos of them as well as the alter in the gym dedicated to them, but it's not the same!"

"You were only four when it happened," Ash told her again, earnestly. Misty kneeled by the graves once again. "You ought to be happy that you remembered as much as you did to help get Giovanni put away."

Deep down, she knew he was right, but she still couldn't help but feel partially responsible for her parents' deaths.

Ash joined her, and embraced her soothingly, trying his best to console her. She was grateful that she had Ash. Even if the two wouldn't have been a couple, he still would've tried his best to calm her, but she was glad that they were officially a couple now. She considered him to be her best friend. Sure he acted silly at times, but he knew when and how to cheer her up, which was always a good thing for her; _especially_ with what she was currently going through and feeling.

"Don't worry, Misty. I'll help you get through this…somehow. For I am," he flexed his muscles, "Ash, Pokémon Master extraordinaire!"

Misty laughed a bit, and gave the boy a slight smile. "Thanks, you always know how to cheer me up." She grew silent again as she focused on the graves again. "This is my first time ever visiting. I've always regretted coming here."

The boy stopped flexing and stared at his redheaded companion, unsure of what to actually say. "Well, at least you know who your father was and what he was like," he blankly replied without realizing it. "My father is a loser who can't accept responsibility."

The girl looked over at him curiously, wanting him to finish the story. He picked up on it and continued.

"Well," he resumed quietly, "my father technically abandoned my mother when he found out she was pregnant with me, and to make it worse, the two were married. I have my father's name."

"Your _mother_ told you that?"

He shook his head. "No, grandma did. She told me because I always asked about him, but it was pretty obvious to everyone that she didn't like him much, except for me, since I was so young. She felt that it was time I knew the truth about the man I admired and was aspiring to be like. She told me the truth over how he really wasn't away on another Pokémon journey, and back in the day he was known for being a great trainer, so his saying he was going on a journey wasn't too hard to believe. I talked with my grandmother right before I got my license and left on my journey.

"My father didn't want any children and when he found out, he gave my mother two choices. Either don't give birth to me or get rid of me after.

"My grandmother told me that mom didn't believe in that kind of thing, and always felt that starting a family and becoming a mother would be great."

"I'm glad she didn't make that choice." She gave him a small hug. "If she had, you wouldn't be here with all of us now."

"No argument here."

"Does your mother know about the conversation you had with your grandmother?"

He shook his head. "She made me promise not to ever mention it to her. Until mom feels that she can tell me herself, I 'shouldn't make any reference to it'. She just felt that I shouldn't continue viewing my father as this wonderful trainer who could do no wrong. It was a wake up call and my main motivation for wanting to become a great trainer! Maybe I'll find him someday, battle him, finally tell him what I truly think of him and his actions towards mom.

"I hate the fact that mom keeps telling me about how great he is, even now, and how she keeps making excuses as to why he's not around or isn't back home with her. I doubt he ever calls. He never did with me. I would always be conveniently out whenever mom received a call. The letters she used to get when I was really young, I now wonder if mom made it up for my sake…"

"What kinds of things did she used to say? What were the excuses?"

He scratched his head, thinking back. "Things like, 'your father is on Cinnabar Island trying to catch a rare fire Pokémon', or 'he's exploring a new region in search of a new challenge to help improve his Pokémon battling skills', stuff like that. I guess in a way, that _could_ be true, but the bottom line is that he still abandoned her. I'm really glad that Mimie is there to keep her company."

The two stood up, both doing a small prayer and bow. They started to walk off, until Misty stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong, Misty?"

"Mama, papa, this is Satoshi, my best friend in this entire world. He's a wonderful boy and I know you would've liked him. He's a very determined, yet goofy, Pokémon trainer. He's helped me out and I like him a lot."

Growing nervous, and hoping he wouldn't unintentionally do anything offensive, he put his hand behind his head and gave off a bashful, uneasy laugh. "Erm, hello there. I, um, really like your daughter, and I promise to always be a great friend to her and to never let anything bad happen to her if I can help it."

After Ash's declaration, Misty thought she felt something and shivered. She wasn't sure what this feeling was, though. Once done, the two started heading back to the gym, hand in hand.

"Thank you, Ash."

"Well, no problem. I hate seeing you upset."  
>x x x x<br>A petitie woman with long, bright red hair wearing a Vaporeon shaped hair clip, and a majestic blue dress sat in front of the gravestone that read "Hanada Kasumi", watched the teens off. "She's turning out wonderfully, don't you think, Yamato?"

A semi-tall man with short, spiky dark brown hair sat in front of the other grave. His voice was gruff, yet soothing at the same time. He was wearing a pair of black pants, and a t-shirt, with what looked to be the Cascade Badge pinned to it. "Of course she is. She's a Hanada! I just wish that she could've heard us. She's finally opened up her heart to let us in. I wish we could tell her that we love her and her sisters and that we don't blame her for what happened.

"All of that aside, though, I'm proud that she's sticking to her dream of becoming a Water Pokémon Master. She was only three when she mentioned that to us. She would sit and watch our matches so intensely and with such great interest. She would even discuss strategy! She was a very gifted child."

"I just know she'll probably take over the gym someday. The other three are okay with battling, now that they take it a bit more seriously, but it's obvious that Misty is the one who excels at it." Her husband nodded in agreement. "That boy she's with is practically perfect for her. They were definitely fated to meet each other.

"I really wish them the best and hope that fate doesn't deal them a cruel hand that even we can't foretell." Her voice began to quiver and then she cried. "They're destined to have a good life together." The woman's voice was now strained from her sobs, but put it aside as she called out, "Your father and I care about you very much!"

"Yes, we love you! You'll become a very skilled Water Pokémon Trainer and will pass on your skill in the future! Please take care, my little Waterflower!"  
>x x x x<br>Misty stopped walking abruptly, her eyes growing wide, slightly. She looked back in confusion.

"What's wrong?" He looked back as she had. "Did you see something?"

"No, I thought…I heard someone call me…by my other name…"

"Your other name?"

"It was a pet name, one that my father called me. He used to call me his 'little Waterflower'. That's one of the few things I remember about him."

"I didn't hear anything."

Ignoring her partner, she obliviously muttered, "I love you too, papa, mama."  
>x x x x<br>Mrs. Hanada's tears were streaming, wishing she could reach out and hug her youngest daughter and never let go. "She must've heard you! This is the first time she's ever sensed us! The other girls have, but never her! She's been through so much, and will be going through another obstacle in her life really soon. We can't always watch over her, but we can try our bests to during that time!"

"Goodbye my little Waterflower, and please never forget us…"  
>x x x x<br>'I promise not to forget either of you. I'm sorry my heart has been closed off to you for so long…because of my guilt, but now that I feel I've avenged you a little, I'll make sure you'll always remain in my heart. I promise to keep you here for all eternity.'

Ash was glad that Misty seemed a bit more content, even if he hadn't heard the things she claimed to have heard.

The two made it back, but decided not to mention where they'd been. Everyone had just assumed that Misty was somehow throwing hints at Ash to follow, and didn't pry. Either way, they were all glad that Misty seemed to be more like herself.

Daisy asked the pair if they wanted to ride around Cerulean before heading off to the island. Ash wanted to turn them down, given how anxious he was, but kept quiet about it and agreed to it given how the others were coming across and knew that Misty would like riding around in a carriage.

Most of the places the girls went, Misty was embarrassed in some way or form. Her sisters brought up stuff that Misty didn't _want_ to remember or acknowledge.

"Hey, remember when Misty was like, eight," Daisy snorted in laughter, "and she was trying to impress our neighbor's twelve-year-old son? That was _so_ totally funny!" She pointed to the park they were now passing by. "That spot there, under the huge tree, is well-known for couples confessing. Misty was there with him, and she fell in the mud wearing Violet's dress. It was _way_ too big for her."

"Yeah, like in one _main_ area," Lily giggled.

"I remember that, coming home, finding one of my best dresses missing. Oh, and wasn't she wearing makeup too?"

"Oh my gosh, she was! I almost forgot!" Lily's giggling had turned to that of outright laughter. "She looked as goofy as a Mr. Mime wearing Daisy's makeup, and the fact that Violet's dress was too big for her, made it even more hilarious! That was so totally cute, our baby sister trying to impress a boy."

Brock, Kenji, Todd, and Ash visualized Misty dressed in the way the sisters had described her. They all were trying their bests to keep their laughter in, which was showing to be difficult, especially for Ash. Brock nearly broke, but managed to pass his stifled laugh off as a cough. Neither boy wanted to get hit by a now red-faced Misty. Mewtwo stared on stoically, still not understanding human emotion very well.

After a quick stop at a café for drinks and a light snack, they finally arrived at their destination, the pathway that would lead to some shipping docks, according to Kenji's map.

Thanks for bringing us here," Kenji said, hopping out of the carriage, "but we still have to walk about 80 kilometers (about half a mile)," he pointed ahead while staring down at his map, "that way."

The place they stopped at was a woodsy like area. There wasn't even a path for them to follow, nor was there a path wide enough for the Rapidash-drawn carriage to follow. The group would definitely have to rely on their skills to make certain that they headed eastward.

"Sorry we couldn't get closer," the oldest of the sisters apologized, "but this is as close as we can get since it's pretty much abandoned here. I don't know anyone who actually goes here, other than probably campers. There isn't even a bicycle path."

"Yeah, we know this city inside and out, and we've _never_ been past here." Lily arched an eyebrow and stared over at Kenji. "Are you _sure_ this map is, like, accurate? I know there's an island way out, but nothing about shipping docks."

"Yeah, we got this from Professor Oak. I figured it out by routing out the coordinates he gave me. He said that to get to the island, we have to leave from," he pointed to a spot on the map, "this spot."

Violet folded her arms over her chest, looking a bit apprehensive. "I hope you guys will be okay, and I hope that Professor Oak actually knows what he's talking about."

"Don't worry," Misty assured them, "we'll be fine."

Lily hugged the younger girl. "We'll be seeing you Misty. Call us _time_ you get there!"

"Yeah, and be _really_ careful so that you don't get sick again," Daisy warned.

"You guys _better_ take care of our baby sister for us," Violet threatened. "If _any_thing happens to her, we _will_ come after you!"

'They're scary,' Ash thought fearfully while holding Togepi. "We'll take good care of her, we promise!"

"Hey, I can take _care_ of myself!" she heatedly protested.

"Misty, y-you know what we mean," Daisy told her nervously. "We don't want anything to happen to the youngest of the four Sensational Sisters."

Misty stared at the trio, and for the first time in her entire life, she felt really grateful for having them. Sure they did clash at times, but it was obvious that they cared about her, and had finally _officially_ accepted her.

"Thank you, guys." She shed a few tears, hugging all three sisters at once. "Do you really mean it? The fourth Sensational Sister?"

"Of course! You're totally awesome," Violet complimented brightly, "and you're one excellent Water Pokémon trainer."

Daisy's look grew serene as she stared up at the clear, pinking orange-ish sky, shedding some tears of her own. 'I'm sure father is proud of her…'

Ash gave Togepi back to Misty and looked towards the woods. "Well guys," he started fiddling with his cap due to the anxiety of his wanting to get to the island and the apprehension and uneasiness of not wanting to go through the woods to get there, "I guess it's off to Lost Kage Island!"

After the goodbyes, they waved to the three older girls, and took off for the woods, which blocked the vast body of water on the other side of it. It was quite dark, despite the fact that it was only the early evening, but luckily, Kenji had a flashlight in his knapsack, who was currently leading them. Togepi shook and started to slightly cry from Misty's arms, leaving everyone feeling a little unnerved, hoping that this wasn't a sign of bad things to come...  
>x x x<p>

Author's Notes

Note 1: Okido-hakase is Professor Oak.  
>x x x<br>Note 2: Shigeru is Gary.  
>x x x<br>Note 3: This is a reference to the prequel of this story. In the last story, Ash went to the gym to face the gym leader. Giovanni saw that Misty (and Todd) were with Ash. He used his mind controlled Mewtwo to battle, but it was a cover, as all of his attacks were aimed towards Misty. Togepi, from Misty's arms, used Teleport. At the time, I didn't know Togepi's type and heard that it had used "Teleport" in the show, so I wrote Togepi as a psychic type. I didn't know that the ep it used it for, wasn't "Teleport", but "Metronome".

As for Articuno, in the last story, Todd obtained an Articuno. It wasn't shown. He told the story of how he was on assignment in the mountains and how he'd fallen and how Articuno saved him, but the bird hurt itself and Todd helped it. Grateful, Articuno joined Todd and as a present, he gave it to Misty and Ash.  
>x x x x<p>

Fic Chapter Changes

Time for some fic chapter changes. The first change dealt with the conversation Ash and Misty had during their walk back to the gym. The part where Misty mentioned stargazing, I had RP interrupt and say to the readers, "Definitely a Misty thing there". I wanted to keep that in, so I added in Ash's going on about being slightly embarrassed about doing something so romantic.

The other change during that walk, deals with Misty mentioning how they played games. I specified what the games were. The "new" Pokémon Stadium for the N64 and Pokémon Yellow for the Gameboy Color. Really dating this fic, eh? lol

One thing I have been changing is "fourth wall" stuff. The part where Todd inwardly groans over the display was originally written to be Todd complaining to RP to cut it out with the mushy stuff and RP saying that she had to toss it in somewhere and that she's never too mushy because she doesn't like mushy stuff much either.

After it was mentioned that the clinics were closed, Todd suggested that they go to a pharmacy and pick up a home pregnancy test. I didn't have him say it exactly, but something along the lines of, "Can't you buy one of those test thingees from the pharmacy?" When the sisters mentioned having one (meaning a doctor), Todd went on about how it seems their "water shows" weren't as fun and that one of them was about to make Misty an aunt.

I cut out another scene of Brock getting slammed with a mallet. After the sisters explained Violet's accident, Brock started acting macho and how he would've saved Violet and also started hitting on them again, so all four sisters slammed him with a mallet to calm him down.

The doctor's name was changed from Hiroko to Hiroki. Hiroko is a feminine name.

The explanation for Misty's sickness was more convoluted originally. She caught some "new virus" that hadn't even been named yet and then she was miraculously better. I felt this change worked out better. The part where Brock mentioned his father's symptoms was changed, as he was originally suspicious over the doctor's diagnosis as he'd never heard of such a virus.

Mrs. Hanada for this said more regarding Ash and Misty's distant future, but…I cut it out and left it implied that both know what the future holds for the kids as opposed to just outright stating it.

Brock originally broke first and started laughing over Misty's sisters' story about Misty dressed in such a way when 8. Misty then hit him.


	4. The Mysterious Encounter

Hello again everyone. I hope you liked the previous chapter. As you can see, this chapter is considerably shorter than the previous one. The group is now walking through the woods to the eastern shores of Cerulean, but confused over how time-consuming the trek actually is. That's about it, really.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, 4Kids, Gamefreak, etc., have those rights, and here are the age reminders once again...

Ash: 13  
>MistyTodd: 14  
>Kenji: 17 going on 18<br>Brock: 19

Part 04: "We're already there?" Ash's Mysterious Encounter!

Last time, the sisters saw Misty and the others off, who are all on their way to Lost Kage Island. How will things work out for them?

Brock Title: Ash's Mysterious Encounter!

"Don't worry, Togepi. Everything is going to be fine," Misty assured the little egg as she cradled him, who had been trembling earlier. After the Pokémon was content, she looked towards Kenji, who was still leading the way. "How much farther is it until we reach the shore?"

The group had already walked for nearly two hours. There still seemed to be no closer to the sea. While walking, they did come across a very faint pathway, which was very secluded and slightly scary, especially since the late evening was approaching.

Kenji stared down at his compass watch, quite exasperated as he stopped walking, the others taking suit. "We should've gotten there by now. This was only supposed to have been an 80km walk!"

Misty groaned. "Don't tell me that Ash and Brock's bad sense of directions rubbed off on you too!"

"If _I _were leading, we would've gotten to the eastern shores by now!" Ash insisted confidently.

"Yeah, sure," Todd retorted sarcastically, under his breath.

Todd ignored the trainer, but on the other hand, Brock was quite annoyed over the fact that Misty had put him down onto Ash's level when it came to directions. "We would've gotten there by next year if _you_ were leading!" the older boy argued.

He stepped up to the taller boy. "Like _you're_ any better!"

"I say that I am!"

"Says who!"

"Says me!"

Misty, Todd, and Kenji just sweat dropped at the scene. Mewtwo, once again, remained quiet as Brock and Ash argued. He still didn't understand the ways of humans, and at times like this, wasn't sure if he actually wanted to. Togepi just chirped in amusement over how foolish Ash and Brock looked arguing.

Pikachu, on the other hand, had grown quite tired of the unnecessary bickering between the breeder and the trainer. ":Stop arguing!:" he shouted at the two, using his Thundershock on the pair of them.

Both fell over, fried and smoky. "What do you mean, 'stop arguing', Pikachu?" Ash demanded, peeved over the fact that he had just been electrocuted. He pointed a finger at Brock who, in return, pointed one at Ash, and both said, in unison, accusingly, "_He_ started it!"

"Ugh, will you two stop arguing like immature brats!" Misty snapped. "You sound like a couple of spoiled children, pointlessly bickering over nothing!"

Brock – still a bit irritated – sarcastically retorted while stepping up to the girl, "Look who's talking little 'Miss you better pay me back for my bike'!"

Misty blushed slightly, mainly because she knew he was right.  
>x x x x<br>"Bike?" Todd asked in a whisper to Ash and Kenji. "I never knew that."

"Me neither."

"That's why she started following me around in the first place. Pikachu was hurt and I was trying to get to the Viridian Pokémon Center. I came across Misty and I took her bike. We were being chased. I ended up wrecking her bike, even though it was really Pikachu who messed it up. He used Thunder against a flock of Spearow and the bike was badly damaged as a result."  
>x x x x<br>"From what _I _remember, a certain girl always argued with a certain kid in a Pokémon League cap over incredibly stupid stuff!"

"Well, at least _I _had a reason!"

"What, that you were chicken?!" At the moment, the wise old Brock didn't seem to care, which could've been attributed to the fact that he was cranky and agitated from the long walk. He started to flap his arms around.

Kenji and Todd gaped at Brock in disbelief. He obviously didn't value his life currently. Ash shuddered fearfully, and looked to want to take cover. He and the others backed away.

Misty grew 110% angry. Infuriated, she pulled out her #151 mallet, the biggest one any character anyplace can use and is the biggest one ever obtained! After being hit, Brock fell over with a loud thud.

"Guys," Kenji interjected meekly, "we really should continue on. It's going to be dark soon and I know you guys wouldn't want to camp out in such an unfamiliar area."

"Even if we do have to camp out, I'd rather be closer to the sea than stuck in these _aw_ful woods where there are bug and bug Pokémon around. They're so slimy…and scary…and creepy." Misty squirmed.

"I wanted to be on Lost Kage Island before the day was out, at least for dinner and to maybe catch some Pokémon along the way."

"Well, let's just keep heading eastward," Kenji suggested, looking down at his compass. "When it gets to the point where it's too dark to continue, we camp out, okay?"

Everyone grudgingly nodded. Kenji continued leading. They walked for about another 20 minutes, and the artist was growing so uncharacteristically frustrated and snappy, no one dared speaking to him. After what seemed like forever, the group came to a clearing. "This isn't supposed to be here," they heard Kenji mutter as he went back to his map.

"Oh, I was hoping this opening would be the docks," Ash whined. "I want that badge!"

Before anyone else could reply, they heard a voice chuckle darkly from behind them say, "You'll be lucky if you manage to get there at all, kid."

They all, turned towards the direction of the voice. Right behind them, there stood a young man wearing a dark brown cloak, its hood casting shadows on his face, which made it difficult for either of them to make him out. How they had managed to miss this person was unusual, especially since he was standing where they had just walked from.

"Who are you?" Brock asked the tall, mysterious stranger.

He ignored Brock and focused on Ash. "So you're the kid trying to get to Lost Kage Island?"

"Yeah, and what's it to you!" he snapped, already annoyed over the arrogance this guy seemed to be giving off.

He wasn't fazed at all by Ash's clichéd rudimentary response, and just scoffed at him. "I can tell already that you aren't going to succeed there."

"What do you mean?"

"I just sense danger in your future kid, if you go there."

"Danger?"

"Yes, danger, _if_ you have a certain type of Pokémon." He sighed. "I don't even know _why_ I'm giving you this warning when I'm technically not supposed to."

While the cloaked stranger was talking, Kenji, who had been distracted by his map, hadn't been paying attention at all, still trying to figure out why they hadn't arrived at their destination.

"Excuse me, but could you help us find our way to Lost Kage Island?"

The man stared over at Kenji in disbelief. "Did you _not_ hear what I just said?!"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening," he routinely apologized. "I was trying to figure out this map, but I'm starting to get this feeling that it isn't too accurate. According to the coordinates we were given, we should've reached some shipping docks by now. There's supposed to be a ferry that runs every hour to take us to the island."

"Docks? _Docks_?! There _are_ no docks!" He laughed dementedly, the shadows on his face casting off an eerie look. "There's only darkness out there!"

"That can't be right. I know the Cerulean sisters told us something like that, but even _I _figured they could've been wrong, especially since this information came from Professor Oak."

Togepi started to cry, the cloaked stranger's voice scaring him. "There's nothing to be afraid of," Misty cooed, as she rocked the small egg Pokémon. "I won't let that strange guy hurt you, and if he does try, I'll bash him with my #151 mallet." Togepi's tears cleared and smiled, grateful and relieved that "mommy's always here to protect" him.

Misty looked over at the guy aggravatingly. "How _dare_ you frighten my little Togepi! I _order_ you to tell us what you want, and if you don't," with her free arm, she pulled out a mallet, "I will _surely_ use this!"

'I think it's safe to say that Misty is _definitely_ 100% better,' Todd blinked.

The stranger didn't even flinch over Misty's frivolous threat, and focused on Ash again. "You _will_ lose if you don't watch yourself. There's only one element needed to defeat the Pokémon of the gym leader there, which is very difficult to come across."

"Which way do we go?" Kenji asked direly, wondering if he'd actually managed to read the map backwards.

In a voice more mysterious and deep-sounding than it had been earlier, he told them, "You're already there. Get the rarest Pokémon you can find so that you can even be accepted for a challenge against the Kage Island gymleaders."

Ash scratched his head in confusion. "But…"

"You're already there," he repeated.

"What do you mean!" Misty snapped at him, her temper about to reach its peak. "All I see is darkness ahead of us as there are more woods there, which is still strange because the sun hasn't even fully set yet! Will you just _please_ help us…or else I bash you!"

The cloaked male looked over at Misty, a seductive, yet demented smile spread across his face. With the shadows covering most of the top half of his face, he actually looked scary. Surprisingly, Ash took notice and stood beside Misty, who looked very uncomfortable at the moment.

"Just leave us alone! We don't need someone like you to try scaring me away from going to that island! I'm going to be the greatest Pokémon Trainer in the entire world someday, and I'm not going to let anyone stop me from reaching my goal!"

"You must be pretty skilled and quick to beat the leader there. You must not always believe what you see with your eyes, but with your mind to get to Lost Kage Island." He started to chuckle lightly, his arms crossed. "The way of getting there is in a way you would least expect it, and if you figure that out, then you'll definitely be worthy enough to even consider challenging the island's gym."

"What?"

"Seems you guys may even have the _key_ of getting there already." A thick, dark mist started surrounding the young man. "You _must_ have the key to get there." His demented laugh echoed.

"We _really_ could use some help here," Kenji pleaded. "We're all tired and…hey, he's gone!"

After the fog-like mist cleared, the cloaked figure was gone.

"Who _was_ that guy anyway?" wondered Todd. 'He's definitely brave to ignore Misty's threats.'

Brock looked to his traveling companions. "What do you think he meant by, 'you're already there'?"

"Ugh!" Ash grabbed his head in frustration. "This guy is worse than Blaine!"  
>x x x<p>

Fic Chapter Changes

After Misty hit Brock after he teased her, there was a slight interruption. RP broke the fourth wall because of there being a slight writer's block. Since I was more of a wrestling fan at the time, I used to have Brock refer to himself as "The Brock" during these goofy segments, as I was a fangirl of the Rock.


	5. Riddles

Hello again everyone. I hope you liked the previous chapter. For this chapter, the group is trying to figure out the riddle and has another encounter with the mysterious young man. Nothing more I can say other than that. Next chapter expect an actual battle, though.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, 4Kids, Gamefreak, etc., have those rights, and here are the age reminders once again...

Ash: 13  
>MistyTodd: 14  
>Kenji: 17 going on 18<br>Brock: 19

Part 05: "This doesn't make any sense!" Solving the Riddle!

Last time, the gang came across a mysterious, cloaked stranger who insisted that they were all wasting their times in their pursuit of getting to Lost Kage Island and gave them somewhat vague advice as to how to get to the island and about the gym leaders. Will they manage to figure out this young man's words, which has left everyone stumped?

Ash Title: Solving the Riddle!

"What was _that_ all about?" Misty questioned, still staring at the spot where the cloaked man had once stood.

"Good question." Kenji folded up his map and pocketed it. "Looks like we're camping out since we can't find the ocean of all things."

The water trainer put a hand to her ear. "We seem pretty close. I can clearly hear waves crashing."

"So can I, which is why I'm confused over why we haven't gotten there yet." Having grown up around water, both he and Misty could hear the serene sounds of water within a 160km (about a mile) radius with no problems at all. They could also tell when near water by their surroundings or the animals that may frequent those types of areas. Kenji was especially good at this, due to his being good at observation.

"Never mind that," Ash interjected seriously, "we have to figure out what that guy was saying."

"Do you have any idea as to what he could've meant, Misty? You're pretty good with riddles."

She shook her head. "I have no idea, Brock. Maybe we should recap everything he told us and go from there."

"It's a start," Todd commented.

"Let's see," Misty thought back, "we already know what he meant about a trainer needing to be skilled and quick to defeat the leader…"

"…_and_ when he said that one needs rare Pokémon to help beat the gym leader," Kenji added.

"I know! I know!" Ash waved his arm around, like an eager student in school. "I must have skill and speed to defeat the guy along with rare Pokémon! That must mean that the gym leader battles with some powerful, rare Pokémon!" He arrogantly crossed his arms and smirked. "Yeah, betcha didn't realize I was so smart, eh?"

"Oh-kay, Ash, you're smart," Todd said slowly, "now what about the rest of what he said? That part about having rare Pokémon and being skilled was easiest."

"Hm, he mentioned that 'the way of getting there is in a way you would least expect'..." Kenji reminded them.

"…and 'you must not always believe what you see with your eyes, but with your mind to get to Lost Kage Island'," Misty continued.

Brock put a finger to his chin. "We also have the key of getting there, apparently."

"I'd take Blaine's riddles _any_ day!"

"It's not like you solved any of them, Ash. Misty did."

"Well, you didn't either!"

"Wait guys, I think I got something," Misty announced. "Now, as we all know, an island is a landmass surrounded by water, and one can only reach an island by either sea or by sky. The way _I _see it, is that the island isn't _really_ an island at all and this is all just a clever trick, or either we must use our minds to find this island place."

"I don't think he meant the island wasn't real, Misty, but maybe you're onto something about using our minds to find a way there."

Ash, Brock, and Todd just stared from Kenji and Misty, in confusion, who seemed to truly understand the cloaked stranger's cryptic warning and message. Mewtwo was quiet, which was normal for him in general. He usually only spoke when he felt he could contribute to the conversation or was directly spoken to. Observing was more his forte and for this instance, he really didn't have any theories.

"We _must_ find a way there!" Misty exclaimed.

"Don't you guys get it?"

The three boys, Mewtwo, and Pikachu shook their heads.

"There must be a-a…"

"…tunnel someplace leading to the island!" Kenji finished up.

"Or some type of a secret passage with a hidden door that can lead us there. It must be a test to all of the trainers to see if they're worthy enough for the gym leaders to even consider battling."

"Oh, okay, but where would it be?"

Misty gave Ash an indignant look. "Geez, Ash, we can't think of everything."

"Brock mentioned a key. I wonder if when that guy told us that we had the key, if he meant that we need to search for it, or if we definitely already have it."

"How about we split up then," Brock suggested, considering Kenji's query. "Since that guy appeared in this clearing, maybe there's a passageway nearby. We should search around here. Ash, Misty, Todd, and Pikachu can be in one group, while Kenji, Mewtwo, and I make up the other."

"I wish we could just call the Professor and ask him about this place. Maybe he could give us some more information or clues."

"Why didn't you just ask me?"

Ash stared over at Todd in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I _do_ work for a magazine and paper, you know. I have to keep in contact with them whenever I'm on assignment. I have a portable video phone with me. You can use it if you want."

The boy dug through his bag and pulled out the black object, tossing it to the trainer.

"Wow, thanks Todd!" He dialed Professor Oak's number hurriedly. In no time at all, an older man wearing a white lab coat, sitting at a computer appeared on the screen of the small phone.

"Hello?"

"Ah, *konban wa, Satoshi-kun. Have you gotten the badge from the Kage Island gym yet?"

'We just left a couple of days ago,' Todd inwardly sighed, surprised he'd even ask.

"Erm, not yet professor."

Before the old, white-haired man could reply, a woman with long brown hair, tied back into a ponytail, wearing a pink sweater and a blue skirt joined, smiling. "Hi Ash!"

"_Mom_?! What are you doing there at this time?"

"I'm just visiting. It's so lonely up here for the professor, and it's quite boring at home since you and your friends left." She did Ash's victory pose. "I'm just keeping my Professor Oak company."

The boy sweat dropped over his mother's pose. "Um, what about Mr. Mime?"

"He's at home keeping everything nice and tidy." She turned to Professor Oak. "Now Professor Oak dear, what would you like for dinner? I was thinking about preparing something quick, like beef curry."

Ash made a face. "'_Dear_'?"

"Wow, that sounds quite tasty."

"I'm glad." She looked back at the giant screen from the lab. "Ash dear, I'll talk to you later, and remember to change your you know whats everyday, always wash behind your ears, and make sure you _always_ brush after every meal!"

Everyone, minus Mewtwo, started to snigger, especially Pikachu.

"Yeah, yeah…bye mom," he told her hastily, his face red in embarrassment. She blew Ash a kiss before leaving, causing Pikachu to pound the ground with his tiny bawled up paws, laughing hysterically now. "Well, like I was saying, Professor, I didn't get the badge yet."

"That's surprising. My grandson is already there, and told me that he was about to battle the gym leader soon, but is still holding out because he's still training."

"_What_?! _How_?!"

"What do you mean?"

"How did he get there so fast?! We're still in Cerulean trying to figure out _how_ to get there. We can't seem to reach the shore, which means no sea, no docks, and no boats. There's only darkness around here and if it's as dark at the shore, like it is here, I doubt we could even use our Pokémon to surf there!"

"He flew there first class, of course."

Misty handed Togepi to Ash and grabbed the phone. "That doesn't make any sense, professor! We were _just_ told that there's only one way to get there, and flying and sailing there don't seem to be it! If he _flew_ there, then we should see it in the distance! If he _flew_ there, we should've been able to just catch a flight there ourselves.

"Before we left, my sisters called up the airport, and asked about it, and said that there were no flights going there and how it's uncommon!"

"Are you _sure_ you're in the right place?"

"Yes, I'm '_sure_'! This _is_ my hometown for goodness sake!"

"Calm down, Misty. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this. My grandson got there with no problems at all. I haven't the slightest idea as to why you all are having so much trouble."

Ash grabbed the phone back from Misty and handed Togepi back to her. "Take a look." He turned the phone away from himself so that the professor could see the clearing they were in, which seemed to be a dead end. "There's nothing here, only more trees and the ocean is really close to us, yet we can't get to it."

Ash turned the phone back on himself. "Oh, wait, I _do_ remember now. Gary didn't fly there. He flew to the Seafoam Islands from Vermillion a few weeks ago when he was on vacation."

Everyone groaned, but Misty was the angriest and the most short-patient of them as of the moment. "Then _how_ did he get there, you old kook!"

"No need for name-calling," Professor Oak frowned.

"Yeah, Mist, take a chill pill."

"Chill this!" She smacked Brock lightly in the back of the head. "I'm cold, hungry, and tired! I want to take a hot bath and sleep in a nice warm bed!"

Professor Oak sweat dropped from Misty's outburst. "Did you encounter a strange man there?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, this is what you do. Take twenty paces to the left, then take ten paces back, then ten paces to the right, and finally, take five paces to the left and you'll be there."

"What?"

"My mistake, Ash, I was watching a *westernized movie on PCM with some treasure hunters. Some of these movies and programs are strange."

"Not as strange as you," Misty grumbled under her breath, everyone else pretty much thinking the same thing.

"This movie is quite interesting, but I notice they don't have many animated movies like we have here. It seems that most animated movies and television programs in general are aimed towards children instead of all ages, like some of our programs and movies here. Can you imagine something like that?"

"Um, Professor Oak," Ash sounded desperate now, "we need help here! The Kanto Pokémon League games are less than two weeks away now; I need to focus and concentrate on catching and training some new Pokémon and to battle the gym leader to even qualify for the league."

He nodded wisely. "Yes, the gym leader there is supposedly pretty tough. Try to gather as many Pokémon as you can or train the ones you already have, but it would be better to find Pokémon native to the island. He also has no known weaknesses that one has actually discovered."

"And _how_ do we get there?"

"Oh, that's easy, Misty! You should have figured out the riddle."

Before Misty could blow her top, Kenji intervened. "Do you have any other information about the island?"

"Oh, now that you mention it, I recently heard that it's enchanted. I do have a correspondence there who always goes on about how unpredictable the place is before we start our lessons. You also wouldn't reach it by normal means."

"We sorta already knew that, Professor."

"Oh yeah, right."

"We met this cloaked guy and he told us that we were already there and that we possibly have the key."

"Well, then I guess you're a lot closer than you all realized."

"What do you mean?" Brock asked curiously.

"Well, I think to get there, all you have to do is-"

Ash shook the phone. "Professor Oak! Professor Oak!"

"What's wrong, Ash?" Kenji asked.

"The phone went dead."

Todd gave off a meek laugh. "Um, well, hehe, I guess I forgot to charge the battery before we left."

"_Todd_!" Ash glared, handing the phone back to the photographer.

"Sorry, I guess it slipped my mind while at the gym."

"That old kook! He didn't help us at all!" Misty fumed.

They heard someone laughing while a thick foggy mist began forming. When it cleared, the cloaked man was once again in their presence, his hood still casting shadows on his face.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the hopeless group again. I guess you haven't figured it out yet, even though you're closer than you think, thanks to the redhead," he winked, "and the map guy over there."

"Go away! We don't _need_ your help!"

"Pikachu!"

He ignored Ash. "Rare Pokémon are the key of getting to and from the enchanted island. Without one, you'll probably _never_ find your way there." He laughed again. "All of you are pathetic if you can't figure out something that simple."

"Pa_the_tic!" The girl set Togepi down by Pikachu. "_I'll_ show you pathetic!"

Misty was stomping towards the young man, about to punch his lights out, but Brock held her back.

"Hold on Misty, let's see what he has to say first." Misty grumbled slightly, but after showing that she would cooperate, he let her go.

"Heh, like you _idiots_ could ever figure anything out," the boy scoffed.

":Idiots! Idiots this!:" Pikachu let off a powerful Thundershock towards the boy, but he dodged it like it was nothing, by gracefully back flipping, the tiny bolt hitting the spot he was once in. Everyone looked on in disbelief.

"_No_ human dodges Pikachu's attacks unless it's a warning shot or he actually misses," Ash gaped.

The boy's hood slipped slightly, but he pulled it back on before anyone could get a look at his face. "Hey kid, I challenge you to a battle."

Ash's eyes lit up. He couldn't resist and jumped at the challenge. "You bet!"

"Two Pokémon each."

"Right!"

"I'll go first." He pulled back his cloak slightly, as he unhooked one of the small, red and white spheres attached to the belt of his black jeans. He pushed the small button on the front of the sphere, which caused it to grow in size. "Pokéball, go!"

The monster ball made a popping sound as a bright red light shot out from it. After the light died, there stood a Pokémon, everyone staring in amazement.

Todd obliviously went towards his camera. "Whoa, what kind of Pokémon is that…"  
>x x x x<p>

Author's Notes

Note 1: "Konban wa" means "good evening".  
>x x x<br>Note 2: "Westernized", in the context that it was used, means something maybe non-Japanese or non-Asian in a general sense. Like maybe something Canadian or American or British, etc.


	6. Strange Pokémon

Hello again everyone. I hope you liked the previous chapter. As you saw at the end of the last chapter, the stranger challenged Ash to a battle. How will he fare? They will also get another clue, somewhat, of how to reach the island, which will happen next chapter, so please hold out.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, 4Kids, Gamefreak, etc., have those rights, and here are the age reminders once again...

Ash: 13  
>MistyTodd: 14  
>Kenji: 17 going on 18<br>Brock: 19

Part 06: "What kind of Pokémon is that?" Weird Pokémon!

Last time, the gang tried their best to figure out the strange man's riddle. Coming up empty, partially, they gave Professor Oak a call, who didn't help them much at all. The stranger, who'd somehow been monitoring them, has returned and challenged Ash to a battle! Will he come out of the battle victorious?

Ash Title: Weird Pokémon!

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" Kenji stared in awe.

"I-I don't know, but I'm going to get some shots of it!"

"I better get a quick sketch of this one! I hope we encounter some more Pokémon like this so that I can study them a bit and present the information to Professor Oak and Bill!"

Todd started to snap photos while Kenji took out his pad and pencil and started sketching profusely. The Pokémon was a very dark color, like a shadow with eyes, only a slightly lighter shade. It was fairly large, maybe about the size of a Gengar or a small Raichu. Its eyes were an unhealthy red color, it had short, pointy ears, and stood upright. To both boys, it obviously wasn't a ghost type, as it seemed to have a fur type similar to that of maybe an Eevee.

Confused, Ash pulled out his Pokédex, pointing it at the strange Pokémon. It pinged, and replied in its robotic voice, "No data found."

"Oh no, not again," the boy groaned. "I know I should update this every once in a while."

"Ash, even if you did, I don't think it would be able to identify _that_ Pokémon," Brock earnestly pointed out. "It might be too rare for that. Your Pokédex only recently had information added in about Mewtwo and it _still_ doesn't have anything much on Togepi."

Ash put his handheld Pokémon encyclopedia away. "Well, I don't care what kind of Pokémon that is!" He pulled out one of his small red and white spheres. "Bulbasaur, I choose you!"

The light green plant Pokémon, with the bulb on his back, emerged from his Pokéball with a loud, "Bulba!"

"I know you've never seen that kind of Pokémon before, Bulbasaur, but please do your best." Bulbasaur nodded determinedly.

Brock walked to the middle and raised his hand. "You guys ready?" Both nodded. "Okay, let the battle begin!"

"Bulbasaur, use your Vine Whip!"

The cloaked stranger laughed slightly. "Go, Zugeng! Take the hits from that wimpy Bulbasaur!"

The strange Pokémon nodded and rushed out to Bulbasaur, who was now fuming over the fact that he was referred to as weak and not being taken seriously. Two vines emerged from Bulbasauir's back, and he hit the "Zugeng" continuously with them. It just stood there, taking the hits as instructed. It didn't even wince. Everyone stared in surprise when they saw that the attack wasn't having any effect at all.

"Bulbasaur, use your Razor Leaf attack, now!"

The bulb Pokémon retracted his vines, and jumped back, tossing out two spinning leaves, but the cloaked stranger looking nonplussed and just smirked arrogantly. "Zugeng, use Retract!"

The dark Pokémon obviously moved, so that the leaves would go right past it, but the others spectating were amazed over how fast the move was.  
>x x x x<br>'Wow,' Brock looked on, quite impressed with the skill of this trainer and his Pokémon. 'It's like an advanced agility technique.'

"I hate to say it," Todd got another shot of the "Zugeng", "but I'm actually glad Ash and Bulbasaur are losing," he whispered to the artist. "It's easier to get more shots that way."

"It's helping me out too since it's not moving as much." He looked down at his sketch, slightly satisfied. "Now, what was it called….oh yeah…" He wrote *ズゲイング underneath the rough sketch. "…Zugeng, what a strange name."  
>x x x x<br>'I have to figure out that thing's weakness.'

"Zugeng and I are getting bored here. Give up?" he cruelly laughed.

Ash shook his head as he looked on, trying to come up with a strategy. He stared up at the now dark sky. Night had finally approached them, and the moon was shining down brightly into the clearing. It then hit him what he should try.

"Bulbasaur, fight back with Lunar Beam!"

"Ash," Misty protested, "the sun isn't out for him to use that kind of an attack!"

"I said _Lunar_ Beam, _not_ Solar Beam."

Their mouths hung open, Brock and Misty stuttering out a shocking, "H-how?"

"I wanted Bulbasaur to use his Solar Beam at night, but that's kind of difficult, even though there is a way to, so I taught him to take in the moon's energy instead and to form a beam from it. I had learned from Professor Oak that this type of move was possible, but very difficult for most Pokémon to learn.

"Since Bulbasaur is a grass type, though, this move won't be as powerful as his Solar Beam. Professor Oak also told me that normal types like maybe Clefairy and Clefable can be taught this 'ancient technique'. I wasn't planning on showing this move off until my league matches, if they ran into the night, but now is as good a time as any to see if it'll be affective against an actual opponent."

Ash's human companions were pretty amazed, wondering when he could've had time to even teach such a move to Bulbasaur. Mewtwo internally praised the trainer for his skill and determination.

"Lunar Beam? Puh-lease! Zugeng, use your Mirror Reflection attack!"

Zugeng let the beam hit him directly in the stomach, which had become very smooth and slick. It reflected the attack, sending the somewhat powerful beam right back at Bulbasaur.

"Bulba!" the Pokémon cried, unable to dodge it or even for Ash to issue a countermeasure. The force of the attack knocked him back.

"Oh no, Bulbasaur!"

"I went easy on your Bulbasaur," the cloaked stranger's voice rang out in cruel laughter. "I didn't let my Zugeng use its true power." He looked down at the plant Pokémon, who was now being held by Ash. "Hm, you may have what it takes after all since you taught that pathetic plant of yours something as rare as Lunar Beam."

"Bulbasaur is _not_ pathetic!" Ash told him darkly. "He's a strong Pokémon and a great friend!" Ash pulled out Bulbasaur's Pokéball and recalled him, but praised and thanked him before the red beam sucked him back in. "Pikachu, I choose you!"

"Let me get this straight, you call back a pathetic plant just to send out a worthless electric rat?" He grinned. "What should I use against something as unworthy as a Pikachu…"

A nerve formed on Pikachu's forehead, as he was ready to use "Thunder" on the trainer, but Ash managed to keep the temperamental electric rodent under control.

"Zugeng, return. You did a great job, but sorry you didn't have a real challenge." After returning Zugeng, he pulled out another monster ball. "Michu, come forth!"

"Michu?"

As if mesmerized, Ash pulled out his Pokédex, pointing it at Zugeng's replacement. "Michu, a_no_ther Pokémon of which I have no data on."

"Oh yeah, that's right."

This Pokémon was about the same size as Pikachu, and also had a similar build. Its coat was dark and shadowy, which made it fairly difficult to determine an accurate color for it, despite the brightness of the full moon above. Its eyes were a beautiful, majestic blue, but the pupils were a dark, glassy brown. It seemed to have the ability to stand on all fours or stand upright, and its tail was short and stubby. Pikachu didn't feel intimidated at all.

Not even waiting for Brock to start the battle, Ash went right into it. "Pikachu use agility, and when you see an opening, use your Thunder Punch!"

Understanding his instructions, he nodded and ran towards the dark Pokémon, his speed increasing to the point of his seeming invisible to the untrained eye. He continued to run circles around the Michu.

The cloaked stranger yawned. "Michu, counterattack with your Shadow Punch!"

When Pikachu felt he had an opening, his small paw became engulfed with crackling electricity, and he swung it at the strange creature. Michu, however, evaded by a fraction of a second, and punched Pikachu with its Shadow Punch. Its fist seemed to have a very dark aura surrounding it when administering the punch. The power of the punch knocked Pikachu back to where Ash was standing.

The boy rushed to his Pokémon companion's side, but Pikachu stood on his own, shaking his head while looking around incomprehensibly. It seemed as if the yellow rodent wasn't sure what was going on or even why he was there in the first place.  
>x x x x<br>Brock, who had been analyzing the battle intensely, crossed his arms. Both Mewtwo and Misty just watched, while Kenji and Todd continued to take advantage of the situation by sketching and taking photos. "Hmm, that attack the Michu used must be some type of confusion attack," Brock determined, "and confusion type attacks are normally most common with psychic types."

"He speaks the truth," the quietest of them spoke up. "I sense a great deal of confusion for the electric Pokémon."

"Oh, Mewtwo, is Pikachu hurt in any way?" Misty asked worriedly.

"No, Pikachu will be fine. Pokémon can withstand a temporary confusion attack, although with Psychic Pokémon, it's easier to rid oneself of it as their minds are trained for such maneuvers."  
>x x x x<br>"Pikachu, Thunder!"

"Michu, use Block and then Double Take!"

The Michu stood its ground, its arms outstretched in front of its body, as if creating some kind of an invisible barrier. Doing so, allowed it to block Thunder successfully. After the quick block, it cloned itself in two.

"Pikachu, Thunder Wave!"

Pikachu stared from one Michu to the other, still a bit disoriented from the earlier attack. He was unable to distinguish the fake Michu from the real one. Usually, such a tactic wouldn't have worked on the experienced Pokémon, and he could usually pick out a decoy with no problems at all. Pikachu chose at random, and aimed his Thunder Wave towards it.

Seeing the wave coming towards it, the Michu took its doppelganger and used it like a shield. The wave was reflected off of the clone, and before Pikachu could counter on his own, or before Ash could come up with a counterattack, it hit him full force, paralyzing him instantaneously.

"Pikachu!"

"Great job, pal. You deserve a rest, but sorry that the rat wasn't much of a challenge for you. Michu, return!" After the Pokémon was secure in its sphere, he looked over towards his opponent. He laughed cruelly as Ash was now holding and shaking Pikachu, who was struggling to try moving on his own. "If you can't even beat me, what makes you think that you can face the gym leader?"

"I _will_ defeat whoever the gym leader is!" He then quietly added, "I don't have a choice…"

Not really caring whether this cloaked weirdo hung around or not, Brock, just as the others, were concerned over both Bulbasaur and Pikachu. "Ash, you better give Pikachu a Paralyze Heal. It should help him until you can get him to a Pokémon Center."

"I don't have any medicines with me…not even an antidote for poison."

"What! Ash, why not?!"

"Well, I figured we would've been on the island by now," he explained. "I was going to pick up some at the Pokémart there. I wasn't planning on getting into a battle on the way."

Brock rushed to his bag, but saw that he didn't have anything for paralysis, nor did he have any Full Heals or anything else that would've benefited this type of situation, but did have a few antidotes.

"You know, you seem like a determined kid," the stranger stated sincerely, no trace of malice or deceit whatsoever.

"First you taunt him, and _now_ you're being _nice_ to him?" Brock questioned angrily. "What do you want anyway?"

He just stared at the group as the mist started to roll in once again. "My Pokémon are weak, Michu being the exception, compared to the ones you _will_ be going up against, kid. I'll give you a hint as to how you can get to the island, since you are a pathetic looking trainer…with potential."

Ash glared at him. This young man's arrogance was starting to remind him of Gary's, but it obviously wasn't him, given that this guy was obviously older than he and Gary.

"Pokémon are the key of getting to and from the island, unless you're special in some way." The mist was now that of a fog, and was so thick, neither could no longer see him. His voice was also growing fainter. "Remember, Pokémon are the key. I'll see you chumps later."

Just like before, when the mist cleared, he was gone.

"I am _not_ pathetic," Ash insisted to no one in particular, "I just don't like riddles."

"Hey guys, look…on the other side of this clearing where that idiot was standing! I see a light!"

Everyone looked in the direction Misty was pointing, and went towards it. It was a soft bluish-white glow. The white light formed a door, but it was on the ground.

Brock took the initiative and knelt down, trying to grab the handle without any luck. "It's like the door's here, but at the same time, it's not. I can't grasp the door's handle."

"Maybe you can go through it?" Before anyone could object to his questionable suggestion, Ash stood on the translucent looking door, in hopes of falling through, but had no luck.

"I don't think that's going to work, Ash. If I couldn't grab the handle, I doubt you could just fall through it."

"If this is the way to the island, then another part of the riddle has been solved," Kenji triumphantly smiled. "This is the _last_ place one would think of looking to get to an island."

"Yeah, you're right, but what about the key thing? Maybe we're having trouble getting through because it's locked and we need the key," Todd said.

'Pokémon are the key of getting to the island according to that jerk in the cloak. Since the island supposedly has an abundance of rare or unusual Pokémon, then maybe you must use one to enter or unlock the door. The Pokémon that guy used seemed to have some psychic abilities. I wonder…' Misty was quiet for another moment or two when she snapped her fingers. "I think I've got it!"

"What?"

"Pokémon are the key! You saw what type of Pokémon that guy was battling with! We've never seen them before, so they would obviously be considered rare…"

Ash impatiently rolled his eyes. "Wow, I didn't know that," he replied sarcastically.

Misty shot him a look, but continued. "_Any_way, I was thinking that we also need to use a rare Pokémon to unlock this door or either a Pokémon with rare moves. From this glow, I think you have to use either a psychic type, a _rare_ psychic type, or either a Pokémon with psychic moves."

Catching on, Kenji said, "Like Mewtwo!"

"Or maybe even my Togepi. *He's still the only one of his kind and he has used Teleport before…so maybe he's part psychic…"

"Good thinking, Misty, "Todd complimented.

Brock patted the younger girl on the back. "Yeah, great job."

"The redheaded one is very wise."

"Wow, that's great, Mist," Ash grew slightly apprehensive, but decided to ask his question anyway, "but how do we _open_ the door exactly?"

Misty looked at him, as if in thought. She then answered coolly, much to Ash's surprise, "I have no clue."

"I think I may have something. Since Togepi doesn't know how to use psychic attacks entirely, how about we let Mewtwo use his most powerful 'Barrier' and teleport us," Kenji suggested. "Maybe if Mewtwo does this, we'll be able to get through this strange door."

"You may be on to something, Kenji!" Todd said.

"That would also mean another part of the riddle is solved! That guy said you have to use your _mind_ to get there, not your eyes!" Brock reminded them.

Misty nodded. "Mewtwo would have to use his mind and concentrate in order to teleport while keeping a barrier around all of us. You also wouldn't think to use a Pokémon's barrier just to go through a door. We also haven't moved from this clearing, and that guy _did_ say, 'you're already there'."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Since we can't physically open the door, or physically go through it, like Ash tried earlier, then I deduced that maybe we have to mentally go through it."

Taking in Kenji's words, Ash said, "It's worth a shot." He turned to the tall, quiet Pokémon. "Are you up to it, Mewtwo? If not, we could always try another way."

"No no, I am quite capable of using barrier as well as maintaining and using another attack simultaneously. Teleport is a fairly simple process and technique for a Psychic Pokémon and is generally one of the earliest moves mastered."

"What are we waiting for then, let's go!" Brock cheered.

"All of you must get close together, so that my barrier will enclose on us all."

"All right guys, let's stand on the door," Ash instructed, "and let Mewtwo do his thing. Everyone stick together. We don't want anyone to get separated."

Once everyone was settled and huddled as much as they possibly could, Mewtwo started to concentrate. A blue aura surrounded him, which grew larger and larger, like a bubble, but it was only surrounding himself. Using barrier was actually a simple task, but he'd never been in the situation where he had to include others with him. He focused harder, the aura around him growing more and more. In a matter of seconds, the move was complete, and everyone was now in Mewtwo's barrier.

'This is a bit more difficult than I originally anticipated. I do hope I will be able to carry along so many others in this fashion.'

"This is amazing!" Kenji stated, awe-struck. "I never knew a Pokémon could do this. I was just theorizing."

Mewtwo continued concentrating, but on teleporting this time. One wrong thought and it could be over, leaving all of them to end up in different places. He focused on the door and on it leading to Lost Kage Island.

After a moment of light meditation, Mewtwo finally felt he was ready. "Please prepare yourselves," he instructed. He closed his eyes, a golden light surrounding him and the others. A few seconds later, the group had vanished through the glowing bluish-white door…  
>x x x<p>

Author's Notes

Note 1: As you can see, I put "Zugeng" into Japanese; katakana to be exact (did anyone else find this to be a lame name I made up? lol) There are three writing systems in Japan: hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

Hiragana is used for articles (to, wo, wa, etc.), and native Japanese words, pretty much, as well as furigana, but I'll explain this momentarily.

Katakana is used for words or names foreign to Japan or borrowed words, like "anime" which is short for "animation". Katakana is also generally used for sound effects (like in a comic) and for sound emphasis. Katakana is also sometimes used with animals. With both hiragana and katakana, each character represents a sound.

Above, "ズゲイング" spells "zu ge i n gu", as that's as close to the sound I had in mind. In romaji, it would be "Zugeng". For the record, all Pokémon names are written in katakana. I'll use another example. Mewtwo's name, in katakana, would be written out as "ミュウツウ". Mi + yu u tu u. The "myu" is there for the "mew" sound. The "yu" is also written small because you're combining it with "mi".

Kanji is the writing system adopted from China, but to help simplify the complex Chinese, hiragana and katakana came about. Even though both languages may share the same characters and meaning, the way to say them will be different. I guess it's similar to maybe Spanish and Italian. Yes, both languages are completely different, but if you know one or the other, one may be able to figure out the meaning through reading it.

Let's use "light" as our kanji example. Light, in Japanese is "hikari". Instead of using one of the Japanese alphabet systems (hiragana/katakana), you can write it out in kanji. The kanji for light is "光".

Now, onto furigana. Furigana is used with kanji. Many kanji characters can have multiple meanings and readings and can be easily misread because of that, so written above the kanji character are small, hiragana characters, which shows how that particular kanji is supposed to be read.

Let's use "hikari" again. Let's say a person is reading something, and comes across "光" but doesn't know how to read it right off. Above "光", or beside it, depending on how it's written (top to bottom), would be "ひかり" (hi ka ri) written in hiragana.

Well, there goes the brief Japanese lesson and for the record, hiragana and katakana are super easy to read and understand, mostly. Kanji is the difficult part of Japanese.  
>x x x<br>Note 2: As pointed out, at the time I wrote this fic and the last one, I hadn't played Pokémon Gold/Silver yet, so I didn't know that Togepi's type was "normal". I'd heard that it used "Teleport" in one of the Orange Island episodes at the time, and so I figured he was a psychic type. In my area, the show was dropped after the Princess vs Princess episode, so it took me a while to see the ep with Togepi using "Teleport", or rather, "Metronome".

I do know as of Generation VI (X/Y) that Togepi is a Fairy type, but I'm going to still stick with what I had originally for this story.  
>x x x<p>

Fic Chapter Changes

When Ash used his Pokédex on the strange Pokémon, Ash did do the "Oh no not again" thing, but instead of Ash realizing he needed to update his computerized encyclopedia, Dexter itself did telling Ash that he should update it every once in a while and Ash begrudgingly agrees, but then Dexter points out that even if he had, he probably still wouldn't have been able to identify it (that line was given to Brock, which also added in his pointing out that Mewtwo's entry was recent and that it still didn't have anything much for Togepi). For the most part, I wrote Dexter a bit smart-allecky at times.

When Michu was revealed, there was a fourth wall situation dealing with its name and confusing it for "Michiru". Kaiou Michiru (Sailor Neptune from Sailor Moon) and Brock was in search of her. At the end of it, it went back to Dexter analyzing and the original line was, "Michiru…I mean Michu, no data found".

Another cut fourth wall segment with Ash and Misty acting mushy. Legitimately mushy, with pet names. After it was mentioned that they would all have to get close, Ash was saying something along the lines of being glad over getting closer to "Kasumi-chan". The other characters complain over it, Todd mostly, and RP reminding them that she had to toss in some AAMR (Ash and Misty romance) somewhere. Brock kept telling the two to knock off all the mushy talk, but he was ignored until he was noticed and Misty hurt him for interfering with romance. I was inspired by the ep, "Bye Bye Butterfree" when Misty punched Brock for "interfering with romance".


	7. Welcome to Lost Kage Island

Hello again everyone. I hope you liked the previous chapter. For this chapter, the gang finally make it to the island, trying to make sense of the place, and they meet a new character with...kind of a terrible name. I apologize for that. I couldn't think of anything else at the time. ^^.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, 4Kids, Gamefreak, etc., have those rights, and here are the age reminders once again...

Ash: 13  
>MistyTodd: 14  
>Kenji: 17 going on 18<br>Brock: 19

Part 07: "We're...here?" Welcome to Lost Kage Island!

Last time, the group had another encounter with the strange cloaked man, He battled Ash with two Pokémon that Ash couldn't analyze. After being beaten, they found a glowing door and with Mewtwo's strong psychic ability, they're hoping that it actually takes them to the island.

Ash Title: Welcome to Lost Kage Island!  
><span>

Ash opened his eyes, only to find that it was difficult to see and that he was still holding Pikachu. It took him a moment to realize what had just happened, and sat upright. "Guys, are you there?"

"We're here," he heard a tired voice echo from his right say. It was Misty. "We're okay."

"Where are we?"

"Could this be Lost Kage Island?" Ash heard Todd ask.

Though no one could see it, Brock frowned. "Maybe, but it's like we're in one big shadow or in a dark room."

"*Kono bashou wa…

"…kowakute kurai desu…" Misty finished quietly for the photographer.

Ash, not caring at the moment, even if it was scary and dark like Todd and Misty said, he was more concerned about his Pokémon companions. "Pikachu, Mewtwo, are you guys okay?"

"Pi, Pikachu!" the still paralyzed rodent said from his arms.

"I am fine, but I am now wondering if I may have made a miscalculation."

"Maybe since it was dark where we were, it has a lot to do with why it's dark now."

"Could be, Kenji," Brock said, "but it still feels like we're in a dark room."

"If this is a room, let's find our way out of it." Ash, and the others, stood up while Kenji managed to find his flashlight in his backpack. "I have to get Pikachu and Bulbasaur to a Pokémon Center."

"I wish it were light out," Misty complained, following behind Ash and the others. She could only make them out vaguely since Kenji's flashlight was a bit dim. "Togepi hates the dark."

"Sure you don't mean you?" Ash teased. He just couldn't resist.

"Of course not! I'm not sc-scared of the dark!"

Ash laughed stupidly as he stopped walking, Brock nearly bumping into him and Kenji and Todd behind him along with Mewtwo. "Real funny, Misty. I didn't know you were scared of the dark! You're a big scaredy cat!" he laughed again.

Brock grabbed the paralyzed Pikachu out of Ash's arms, and backed away, along with Todd and Kenji. They knew what was in store for him after that remark. A mallet fell upon the crown of the young Pokémon trainer, who hopped up and down, holding his head.

"I do _not_ like being made fun of!" she fumed. "Togepi doesn't like the dark, and I'm not too fond of unnatural darkness either! You shouldn't be acting so foolish now anyway! You said it yourself, we have to get to a Pokémon Center!" she spat. "Ugh, I just wish it were light out!"

After Misty's last words, the sky started to lighten up and they all soon heard birds chirping.

"Hey, look! The sun's rising!" Ash pointed.

The boy was, indeed right. The group no longer seemed to be in a closed off room. Instead, they were on a dirt path, and behind them, a forest.

"That's strange." Kenji put his flashlight away. "We just got here. A sunrise can't happen _that_ fast."

"This is _really_ peculiar," Brock slightly panicked, handing Pikachu back to the trainer. He looked back at the woodsy area behind them. "We didn't walk through the woods to get to wherever we are, and what happened to that room we seemed to be in?"

"Since we don't want to go back through the woods, let's just stay on this dirt path," Kenji suggested.

"Hey guys, look!" Todd pointed ahead of them, about 40km (about a quarter of a mile). "It looks like a town."

"Oh thank goodness! Let's go find a Pokémon Center and a place to stay." The girl didn't wait for anyone to protest as she ran ahead towards the town that seemed to appear from out of no place. The others trailed behind her.

Misty stopped at the town's entrance, just as the others had, gazing around. There were quite a few people out and about, women sweeping off stoops, people speaking with neighbors, some people hurrying to get someplace, etc. In the distance, there were quite a few mountains.

"I can't read this sign all that well. It looks to be written in Romanized English, and the writing under the town's name is written in English. I'm not sure if I'm getting this right."

"We can worry about that later, Brock. I have to get Pikachu and Bulbasaur to the Pokémon Center."

The group entered the town and came to the center, where a giant board sat with a town map. On the sign, it seemed to list what could be found in the town, but once again, everything was curiously written in English.

"What's with this town and the English," Todd griped. "I can speak it okay, but I'm not the best reader in the world of it."

"Calm down." Kenji pointed to the center of the map. "This is definitely a Pokémon Center. This is the symbol for it and it looks to be north of where we are..."

'The village square,' Todd silently read.

"…so let's head there."

They all agreed and made their way towards the north part of the town. While doing so, they took notice of their surroundings and also received a few stares in the process, mainly because of the tall, stoic Pokémon walking alongside them. When they passed, some people would start murmuring and pointing towards Mewtwo.

The place was obviously very well-settled and seemed to have a decent amount of inhabitants. As they continued, they saw shops, more houses, some restaurants, outdoor vendors selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and fish, as well as children innocently playing with Pokémon, all of which Ash's group could identify. Nothing as strange as a "Michu" or "Zugeng".

The group finally made it to a large building with a giant "P" on the front of it and two pink egg-shaped Pokémon on either side wearing nurse's caps.

"This place _can't_ be the Pokémon Center, can it?" Todd asked. "It's too big to be a Pokémon Center."

"It has to be," Kenji pointed out sensibly. "Look at the two Pokémon by the sign. They're Chansey."

The group walked into the center, the sliding door opening. The inside was just as impressive as the outside. It was very big, and elegant. The walls of the center were decorated with beautiful Pokémon art.

When entering the center, there was a sign with a few locations, for those to navigate around. This sign was written so that the group could understand it this time, but it still had English in some parts.

"To see the nurse, go straight ahead," Brock read hesitantly. The other options were a bit iffy, but they didn't care.

They took the hallway right in front of them, and to their surprise, they found a lady in a nurse's uniform behind the counter, but she didn't look like the typical Nurse Joy, like the ones they'd encountered in the past. Her hair was more of a light red, as opposed to its normal pinkish tone. Her hair wasn't styled in two loops; instead, it was hanging loosely down a little past her shoulders. The uniform was typical, like Nurse Joy, only it was more close-fitting and sleeveless.

"Hello there," the young woman greeted politely with a bow, speaking, surprisingly, Japanese. "Welcome to the Kage Island Pokémon Center. What may I do for you?"

Ash rushed to the front counter. "Could you please help us by-"

Right at that moment, a love-struck Brock pushed Ash out of the way. "Nurse Joy, glad to see you," he rambled, shaking her hand. "You're the youngest and best Joy yet! You even dress differently."

"Joy?" She withdrew her hand from his. "My name isn't Joy."

"If your name isn't Joy, then what _is_ your name?" Kenji asked curiously.

"My name is Joya."

"_Jo_ya?"

"Yes, it's Joya."

"Well, you're the best _Joya_ I've ever had the honor of meeting!"

"She's the _only_ Joya you've ever met," Misty muttered under her breath.

"Th-thank you very much," she slightly blushed.

Brock's eye seemed to twinkle as he gave her a charming smile. "You're a nice girl, and I know you would love hanging around with a man like me." He started to flex his muscles.

"Oh brother," Misty groaned with a sweat drop.

The nurse, however, giggled at Brock's attempts. To her, there was something cute about his attempt. He was trying too hard.

"So," he leaned over the counter and stared into her eyes, "would you like to hang out sometime, maybe talk about your experiences as a nurse over dinner? I'm interested in Pokémon medical procedures too."  
>x x x x<br>"Here it comes!" Todd warned while shaking his head.

"Another put down, probably," Ash sighed.

"Someday he'll learn," Misty grumbled.

"Which one of us drags him off this time?" asked Kenji.  
>x x x x<br>"Dinner?" He nodded. "Well, it's kind of sudden, and you seem like a very nice guy…so sure, I'd love to meet with you for dinner."

Everyone's jaws dropped. Brock _actually_ managed to get a date, even though he had acted macho earlier. Even Brock was surprised. "Wait, y-you will?"

She smiled. Brock melted. "Sure. There are plenty of cafés and restaurants around and I can't turn down such a generous offer."

"Um, excuse me, _Joy_a-san, where are we?"

Surprised that he'd obviously missed her greeting somehow, she asked, "You don't know where you are?"

Very unlike himself, as he was growing antsy, he sarcastically replied, "I wouldn't have asked if I already knew."

The breeder pulled Ash into a headlock, even though Ash was still gently holding Pikachu. "My young friend here hasn't learned any manners yet," he chuckled nervously. "This boy is harmless." He let go of him. "Now, apologize to the nice girl for being rude, Ash."

"But I-"

Brock hovered over Ash, his head ten times its normal size. "APOLOGIZE TO THIS LOVELY LADY NOW! YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE RESPECTFUL TO LADIES!"

Misty, Todd, and Kenji just sweat dropped over it, their eyes closed in frustration. Mewtwo watched on quietly, still finding the constant change of emotions expressed by humans perplexing, yet fascinating. Togepi was chirping, stuck in his own world, oblivious to all that was currently happening.

Ash started to bow vigorously, in fear and shakily apologized.

"What Ash meant," Kenji stepped up, "was that we have an idea where we are, but would just like some confirmation."

"Oh, so you guys aren't from around here. That would explain why I've never seen either of you before. Anyway, this is Lost Kage Island and this is the Kage Island Pokémon Center. I'm sorry if I didn't speak clearly enough when you first came in."

"Yeah! We finally made it! I was right all along!" Ash praised himself.

"_He_ was right?" Misty sighed.

"I'm sorry, what were your names again?" She just realized that she accepted an invitation and wasn't entirely sure on the narrow-eyed boy's name.

"Oh, sorry for being so rude. I'm Kenji, and this is Kasumi. The Pokémon she's holding is Togepi. The boy with the camera is Toru-kun. The one holding the Pikachu is Satoshi. The tall, quiet Pokémon is Mewtwo, and the Pokémon Breeder and doctor in training, is Takeshi."

'Ah, so that's why he wanted to discuss work related stuff, he really _is_ interested in Pokémon medicine.' She pushed some of her loose hair behind her ear. "It's a pleasure to meet you. As I said earlier, my name is Joya and I'm 18, so no need to be so formal with me, as I'm not an official nurse as of yet. I just promised to watch the center today. It's _really_ run by my elder sister, Joya, but she's out with my younger cousin, and our friend Jen-san, shopping."

"Um, could I ask you a quick question?"

"Sure, what is it….Toru was it?"

"Yeah. You and your cousin and sister wouldn't all happen to be identical, would you?"

"Why yes, we are. How'd you ever guess that?"

"Let's just call it a hunch," Misty commented ironically.

"Where's the gym?"

"Ash, stop being rude!"

"But Brock, I have to battle the gym leader."

"Not many people come here to actually battle much."

"I suppose it's because the gym was just recently built or maybe just authorized, right?"

She shook her head to Kenji's statement, her dark red hair falling into her face some. "No, it's always been here. The gym is at least 20 years old."

"_Twen_ty?"

"Yes, twenty years. The gym leader is pretty mysterious. I've never even seen the gym leader, or leaders, there. I don't know if it's one or two, male or female… Whenever anyone brings his Pokémon here for my sister to treat, they never describe the match or the leader. All I know is that the gym leader has Pokémon that few have ever seen or heard of in any other part of the world." She gave Ash a sympathetic look. "Are you sure you want to battle there? It might be too much for you to handle."

"I sure do! No one's going to stop me! I want to study him! Let's go to the gym now."

"Ash…"

"Yeah, Misty?"

"Pikachu and Bulbasaur."

"Oh, yeah! Pikachu and Bulbasaur! Joya-s…er…*Joya-neesan, could you heal Pikachu please? We got into a battle on the way here. The trainer had a strange Pokémon called…Michu, and it used an attack that repelled Pikachu's Thunder Wave back at him, which paralyzed him."

'A Michu? That's one rare Pokémon, although I've never seen one, and it sounds like a type of Pokémon that the gym leader could have. Could that have been the leader that this kid battled against? Michu haven't been seen for centuries. Even the existence of them are in question, wondering if they could all be legend, not just extinction like many Pokémon Archeologists, Researchers, and Historians tell us.

'I wonder if the gym leader has ways of obtaining Pokémon this rare and unusual to that extent, which include supposedly extinct ones…'

"Joya-neesan?"

"Oh, yes. That's awful! Let me take your Pikachu. I'll fix him _right_ up."

"Thanks."

"No problem." She took Pikachu, who smiled up at the nurse's ginger touch. "This shouldn't take too long at all."

She laid him on the machine behind her, and put a metal looking band on the Pokémon's head.

"Don't worry," she told Pikachu gently, "I have to determine the extent of the paralysis."

She pushed a few buttons simultaneously on the machine, studying the readout that was now coming up on the screen, but the text was in English.

"Hmm, okay," she murmured as she removed the metal band. "I have the information I need now. It seems your Thunder Wave is pretty powerful. The damage is about the same level as a well-trained Raichu, given that you can't even move after so much time."

After the small explanation, the others still quiet, curious of her ways, especially Brock given his being a breeder, she took out a small flask, which held some kind of multicolored liquid, which Ash and he gang had never seen before, which included a surprised Brock who usually kept up-to-date with Pokémon medicines, medical procedures and treatments.

"Okay, Pikachu." She took out a small, Pokémon-sized plastic cup and poured the bright liquid into it. "I need you to drink this, if you can, and I can help you." She cradled Pikachu in her arms, and held the cup for him to drink from. "Don't drink too fast now…we don't want you choking. Take your time."

Pikachu gulped down the rest of the drink, which tasted tangy with a hint of sweetness. They were surprised to see that the procedure took less than a minute to perform, and was also used of potions being sprayed on, not drunk. In no time at all, Pikachu was running around, feeling stronger and more energetic than ever before.

"It's great that you're better, Pikachu!" Ash told his Pokémon, but soon held his head down shamefully. "I'm sorry for being so selfish, worrying about the badge."

":That's okay. I knew you wouldn't ignore me on purpose:" Pikachu told his friend happily while hopping onto his shoulder and giving him a pat. ":You're just glad that we got here.:"

"Thanks, Pikachu."

Pikachu hopped back over to Joya and hugged her. "Pi Pikachu!" he squeaked in gratitude.

"And you're welcome too, Pikachu," she smiled.

"Joya-neesan," Ash unhooked a Pokéball from his belt, "this is Bulbasaur, and he was hit by his own Lunar Beam."

Her eyes nearly bugged out learning this. "_Lunar_ Beam?! That move…it hasn't been seen in practically forever! It's an ancient technique, and the only Pokémon able to learn it are those who can evolve by use of a Moon Stone, so I've heard. I didn't even know that Bulbasaur were capable of performing a Lunar Beam."

"They usually aren't," he answered insolently, "_I _taught him."  
>x x x x<br>"I think this is all going to his head, if it wasn't before," Brock muttered to the others, who nodded and said in unison, "You said it."  
>x x x x<br>"It's still amazing that you were able to teach your Pokémon this. How did you do it?"

"Well, I learned about it in my hometown and I started training Bulbasaur to concentrate in the same way he does when using Solar Beam. It's not as strong as his Solar Beam of course, but I still felt it would be interesting for him to use something like that if I'm ever in a night battle to throw my opponent off guard. I heard that sometimes the matches in the league can run into the night."

"Wow, you must be a great trainer! Anyway, you guys arrived at a good time. Breakfast is being served. You must be both tired and hungry after such a long journey and a difficult Pokémon battle. While I heal your Bulbasaur, you guys can go grab something to eat."

"Breakfast?" Kenji questioned.

"Yes, breakfast."

"But it was the late evening when we did that teleportation stuff with Mewtwo."

"Who cares, Todd! I'm starved, and breakfast sounds like a _great_ idea!"

"Wait, Misty," Brock interjected, "we don't know where the breakfast area is."

"Oh, how foolish of me," Joya bashfully laughed. "I'm sorry about that. You know where you came in and saw the sign?" They all nodded. "Just go back in that direction, but only opposite. There'll be a hallway located to the left. It leads to the bistro. The walls of that particular hallway are decorated with many paintings and have some potted plants along it. You can't miss it."

"Thanks."

"No problem, Toru-kun."

Ash was hesitant. "What about Bulbasaur?"

"I have to check out the extent of his damage before I can make a proper diagnosis. It may take a bit longer than usual to figure it out since this is the first time I've ever had to treat a Pokémon hit by such an uncommon, yet legendary, attack." The boy still looked slightly worried. "*Shinpai shinaide, Satoshi-kun. Your Bulbasaur will be fine, now you guys, please go relax in the dining hall. The bistro is very nice."

It took a bit of persuasion, despite Joya directly saying, "Don't worry, Ash", but he finally gave in to the rumbling of his stomach, and followed the others towards the restaurant, although Brock wanted to stay and talk with Joya, but knew it was best to leave the young woman to her work. The dining hall was exquisite and eloquent. It looked like an indoor outdoor Paris café with golden candle-lit chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, or either they had stepped back in time to some kind of a royal function of the Victorian era.

Each table was pearly-white, and had exotic designs on each, and the material of the seats of the booths seemed to be made of satin. The room was also decorated with many plants, some of which they couldn't identify, like they were from other parts of the world. On the other end, there was an automatic sliding glass door. This entire hall had windows around.

"Wow, this place is beautiful," Misty stared on, mystified.

Ash whistled in amazement. "What a Pokémon Center!"

"The architect of this particular Pokémon Center seemed to have had a thing for 19th Century European designs," Kenji noted as matter-of-fact-like.

Todd glanced over at a disheartened-looking Brock. "I'm surprised," he randomly said.

"Why?" asked Misty.

"Brock _actually_ got a date."

"Hey!"

"Never mind that, let's just eat," Ash told them.

A young girl with bright, blonde hair, tied back in a ponytail, wearing what looked to be a waitress uniform, walked up to them. Brock didn't really take notice of this pretty girl at all. The girl stared at Mewtwo curiously, but shook her head and bowed politely and said, in English, "Welcome. How many are in your party, and where would you like to sit?"

"We're all together," Todd answered back, "and I guess a booth would be okay."

"Alright, follow me please."

They followed the girl to a booth, which was near the sliding door of the establishment. It was obvious that you could get to this restaurant through either the Pokémon Center, as it's connected, or from the other end.

After they were all comfortably seated, she handed them all menus, and whenever speaking, she stuck to using only English, which meant Todd had to do most of the conversing. "My name is Robin, and I shall be your server this morning. Could I start you off with some drinks?"

Todd quickly translated what she'd said, who looked through the French, Japanese, and English menu telling the young girl what they wanted. Brock had also directly requested, in Japanese, to the girl, for a newspaper, which she seemed to understand and kindly got for him. After the group finished their morning meals, Mewtwo indulged in Pokéberry Pie, once again, Brock went to his paper, and the others conversed, waiting on the check.

"I wonder what's with this place," Ash slightly griped.

"Yeah, it's strange, isn't it? There's so much English and seems I'm the only one who understands it enough to hold a conversation, but that Robin girl seemed to understand Japanese just fine…"

"Where _did_ you learn English anyway?" Misty asked.

"It's from traveling to different regions to get the best Pokémon on film. I had to learn it to communicate with the locals of those areas. I know a bit of Mandarin, Cantonese, French, and Spanish too."

"Wow!" Kenji said, quite impressed. "I wish I knew more than one language."

"Speaking of languages," Todd looked over at Brock, "what language is the paper in?"

"It's Japanese," he answered vaguely.

Misty sipped some of her juice. "Is there anything interesting in it?"

"Nope, not yet." He turned the page. "They have news from all over, though. The type of news you'd usually only find in those cities' papers. You know, like if someone won a raffle in Cinnabar, how that would only be in Cinnabar's paper, since it's not really important enough to put in national news."

Ash looked at him in confusion. Brock continued.

"I just finished reading an article about some boy in Pewter who lost his Growlithe, and there was another one here about a play on some famous Pokémon kidnapping case in *Kogane city and someplace called *Miare city. There's another story here about a tribute to the Mayor of Celadon. All of that is local news for those areas, and isn't really newsworthy enough to be put in a paper based in another city. Even for national news, these stories aren't particularly relevant." He continued skimming through the paper until one caught his attention. "Hey, this one is kind of interesting, and it's local news."

Kenji, who had been going through his sketches, asked, "What's it about?"

"It says here that the inhabitants of Lost Kage Island have been having difficulty with Psychic Pokémon. They have been acting strangely and some have become distant or quiet. Seems they've also been attacking at random and others just take off without warning, and ignoring their trainers. The only Psychic Pokémon that don't seem to react to this are young ones 'who do not understand the full potential of their powers'."

"That's really strange. I wonder why." Kenji put his sketch pad away.

Brock folded the paper over, to finish reading the article. "Let's just hope that we don't encounter any wild Psychic Pokémon while here."

"Hey, what's the weather going to be like today?"

He went back a few pages. "Let's see," he mumbled in pursuit of answering the photographer's question. "Wow, there's a chance of snow today. That's very unusual weather for an island in the middle of April. It was warm and slightly humid when walking through town."

"It _wasn't_ cold on our way here," Misty insisted.

"How can it snow? It's not even cloudy out."

"You were saying, Ash?"

"Huh? What?"

"Take a look out the window," Todd pointed.

Ash, as well as the others who hadn't noticed yet, looked out the window, shocked. It was snowing pleasantly outside, a small dusting of snow on the ground, as if it had been snowing for about a half hour or so.

"Is that actually…snow?" Ash asked, dumbfounded.

Kenji sat back in his seat. "Okay, this is getting beyond strange now."

Misty didn't seem too bothered, and a deranged smirk spread across her face. "Well, you know what that means, right?"

"Don't say it Misty! _Please_ don't say it!" the trainer and breeder pleaded.

Kenji and Todd just looked on in confusion. "What?" both asked in bewilderment.

She jumped out of her seat, Togepi in her arm, and shot a fist up into the air happily. "*Koko de wa kaimono ni iku koto ga dekimasu!"

"Togepriii!"

Brock's eyes were streaked with tears as he nearly screamed out, overly dramatically, "Noooooo!"

"Well, we're going to have to go shopping sooner or later anyway," Misty pointed out reasonably. "We don't have any clothes warm enough for snow."

"She's right, Brock." Kenji looked out the window again, watching the snow fall harder and stronger, and becoming thicker. "I still would like to know how it just went from normal, warm weather to the point of its being cold enough to snow like this."

"I hate shopping, but she _is _right. I guess we can go to a clothes shop after here." Ash sighed depressingly over the inevitable shopping trip, but was also a bit down because of the weather and how it would cut into his training plans.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back. I have to call my sisters." Misty sat Togepi down beside Pikachu, who was consuming ketchup. "Stay here with Pikachu, Togepi."

"Priii, priii, prii!"

Misty walked off, heading down the hall and back to where Joya was, who was working with another Pokémon.

"Joya-san…"

"Oh, hello there. Are you here to pick up Bulbasaur?"

"No, but how is he?"

"He's all healed up and ready to go. Lunar Beam just knocked him out, pretty much, and was resting as a way to rejuvenate, but there was some slight damage." Misty gasped. "Oh, there's nothing to really worry about, since the Lunar Beam wasn't that strong, I'm assuming. This Bulbasaur may be capable of performing one, but it's not his…forte, I guess you could say."

"What do you mean?"

"Hm, I guess it's like a Water Pokémon, for example, using an ice-based attack, like maybe say, Ice Beam. Sure, the Pokémon may be able to launch the attack, but of course for an actual Ice Pokémon, the attack would be much stronger compared to the Water Pokémon using it."

"Oh, I see what you mean. That does makes sense."

"It's still amazing that your friend's Bulbasaur can perform something as rare as a Lunar Beam."

"Well, Ash _is_ full of surprises…"

She handed Misty Bulbasaur's Pokéball. "Thanks."

"Oh, yeah, I was curious about that tall Pokémon. I'd never seen one before."

"Oh, that's Mewtwo. He's the only one of his kind."

"Really? Wow! Lunar Beam _and_ you have a rare Pokémon."

"Well, not exactly. Mewtwo doesn't belong to anyone now. His real owner was…unpleasant. Mewtwo, I guess you could say, is his own master."

"Hm, poor thing, but as long as he's happy, that's all that should matter."

Misty nodded. "Oh, by the way, where are the phones?"

She pointed to the elevator on the opposite side of the room. "Take the elevator to the second floor. The second floor is pretty much a recreation area where trainers can use the Pokémon Battle Simulators, make calls, converse, trade Pokémon, watch some television…"

"Wow, this place _is_ huge. Thanks a lot."

Misty headed to the elevator and boarded when it arrived. She saw that this place had more than just two floors, and two sub-basement areas. Apparently, the first floor had a place for dining and Pokémon healing, the second with the simulators and phones, the third floor, a Pokémart, and the top floor, sleeping quarters.

After reaching the second floor, she stepped off to find many people at one of the many simulators, which took up the majority of the floor. She also saw a machine for trading Pokémon. On another part of the floor, she noticed a room with a bunch of trainers battling it out, and outside of the door, there was a sign pointing out certain moves not to use inside, specifically most ground-based attacks like "Dig", "Earthquake", and "Fissure". Moves like "Rock Throw" were also forbidden.

Misty continued on, amused over how Ash would react if he knew of this place's existence. Finally, she came to another room which had a row of phones. She took a seat at one of them, inserted the coins and dialed the Cerulean gym…  
>x x x x<br>Meanwhile, back at the Cerulean Gym…

"Hold on, hold on," a girl with dark hair muttered as she took a seat in front of the phone, straightening up her cream-colored skirt, and picking a piece of lint from her yellow, spaghetti-strapped top. She picked up the phone, a girl appearing on the screen. "*Moshi moshi…"

"*Ohayhou, Ayame-neesan!" the redhead greeted back.

"*Sakura! *Botan! Kasumi is on the phone!"

Both sisters rushed down the hall to the phone Violet was using, standing beside her.

"Hi there!" Daisy greeted in relief.

"It took you long enough to call us!" snapped Lily.

"What do you mean? We haven't been gone that long…maybe about three hours at the most."

"It's been longer than that," the blonde informed her. To Misty, it seemed that her beauty and radiance was even more enhanced due to the white midriff and shorts she was wearing. Seems no matter what, to the young teen, Daisy always stood out the most amongst her sisters. "If you haven't noticed, it's already morning."

"It's morning here too."

"We wanted you to call us _time_ you got there!"

"But Violet, we _did_ just get here."

"Never mind that," Daisy civilly replied, "she's safe and that's all that matters."

The other two quieted down, realizing the oldest of them was right.

"It was really weird how we got here."

"What do you mean?" asked Lily, who was wearing a sleeveless blouse and matching short shorts.

Misty explained how they'd encountered a cloaked stranger, the battle he'd had with Ash, the door they found, and Mewtwo's using teleport to get through it.

"That _is_ strange," the blonde said.

"So, does that mean you all were, like, knocked out which is why you guys just got there this morning?" Violet asked.

Misty thought for a moment and wondering if that could've been the case. "Who knows…"

Daisy looked a bit apprehensive once again. "Are you _sure_ it's a good idea to be there? I mean, the way you got there is just incredibly unusual. What if you can't get back?"

"I'm not worried about it. This place is pretty nice so far, even if the weather _is_ a bit weird right now. It started snowing, but maybe it's normal for here. That aside, I just wanted to let you all know that we're alright."

"Okay, but get back to us soon."

"Okay Violet."

"And make sure you take your medicine."

"I am, Lily, I am…"

"Take care, Misty and tell Ash good luck."

"Alright Daisy, I will. See ya."

"Goodbye," all three said, the screen gong blank.

After hanging up, the girl headed back to the elevator, in thought over what Violet had said, over how maybe they slept after being teleported and the weather was also still bothering her some, but decided to shrug it off and rejoin the others…  
>x x x x<br>Meanwhile, back at the bistro, Brock had gone back to reading the paper, while the other remaining members of the group conversed. Even Mewtwo was talking with Pikachu about the pie and everything he liked about it, as well as the battle that Pikachu had with the strange Pokémon. Togepi was eating the Pokéberry pie happily, his face dirty.

Suddenly, a hard, disgusted look appeared on Brock's face, which the others noticed.

"What's wrong, Brock?"

Without uttering a single word, he handed the newspaper to Kenji. He skimmed over what Brock had read, and an equal, yet more vehement look appeared on his face.

"Come on, you two. What's wrong?"

"It can't be that bad, Todd, unless Team Rocket has somehow been reformed and the ex-members who said they were glad to be out go back to their old ways and try capturing Pikachu again."

":If they do, I'll shock them back to reality!:"

"There'll probably be no need, Pikachu," Ash laughed. "I couldn't see any of them going back to that life, so it probably doesn't have anything to do with Team Rocket."

"You're probably right, Ash. They found every single one of their headquarters in this section of the world and shut them all down."

"This article is from Viridian," Brock stated coldly while staring out of the window.

"What about it?"

"Former Viridian Gym Leader escapes," Kenji read quietly to the others.

Staring at the Pokémon Artist, a look of fear and worry on her face, stood Misty, who had overheard what he'd said. "Does that mean he's coming after me?" she asked in a shaky voice…  
>x x x<p>

Author's Notes

Note 1: "Kono bashou wa kowakute kurai desu…" means "This place is scary and dark."  
>x x x<br>Note 2: I'm sorry about the name "Joya". I really couldn't think of a name close to "Joy". It's not like "Joy" is a Japanese name either, but yeah, that was all I could think of at the time.

In Japan, many use honorifics and even though oneesan/oneechan/oneesama can mean "big sister", it's also used from younger kids towards older kids, which is why I have Ash using it. Just thought it would be cute. lol  
>x x x<br>Note 3: "Shimpai shinaide, Satoshi-kun" means, "Please don't worry, Satoshi."  
>x x x<br>Note 4: Kogane is Goldenrod (Gold/Silver series) from Johto's region and Miare is Lumiose from the Kalos region (X/Y game series).  
>x x x<br>Note 5: "Koko de wa kaimono ni iku koto ga dekimasu" pretty much means, "We can do some shopping here."  
>x x x<br>Note 6: "Moshi-moshi" means "hello", but you use this for answering the phone.  
>x x x<br>Note 7: Ayame is Violet. Botan is Lily. Sakura is Daisy.  
>x x x<p>

Fic Chapter Changes

Time for some changes. I calmed down on Brock hitting on Joya and pointed out that he was genuinely interested in her profession, which he was, but shown later. I just decided to show this early. In other words, I had Brock be more like himself as opposed to his being completely girl crazy, and personally, I could picture Brock being this way if he found the "right" girl. I noticed how different he acted around Melanie (Bulbasaur ep), where he was very calm and obviously genuinely liked her, imo, and Suzie (Vulpix ep) as well. There have probably been more, but these two stick out for me, although to be fair, Brock didn't seem to crush on Suzie, just held her in high regard.

Originally, I only had Ash say that he taught Bulbasaur Lunar Beam cockily and no other explanation. I had him actually explain how he'd even come across such a move.

I had Joya question Misty about Mewtwo. I also included, with them heading to the Pokémon Center, Mewtwo getting looks in general. He is a very rare Pokémon. Seems someone would be curious about him.

I pointed out what the remaining top floors had of the Pokémon Center. Originally, I only mentioned the first and second floor.

I included a warning for those having actual battles inside the center and how one should avoid most ground-based moves. Personally, I always found that strange when playing the games themselves. Let's say you get into a battle…on a boat. Like in the original games on the SS Anne (or whatever it was called). Using something like "Dig" while on a boat, can't be good. lol


	8. Giovanni Escapes

Hello again everyone. I hope you liked the previous chapter. As you saw, the group finally arrived. That aside, this chapter introduces another character that's going to be around the group. Hope you like her (and Joya).

This chapter is actually shorter than it looks. There are a lot of notes at the end, so I apologize for that.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, 4Kids, Gamefreak, etc., have those rights, and here are the age reminders once again...

Ash: 13  
>MistyTodd: 14  
>Kenji: 17 going on 18<br>Joya: 18  
>Brock: 19<p>

Part 08: "It can't be true!" Giovanni's Escape!

Last time, the group finally made it to the island, but after arriving, it started to snow, which is definitely unusual for spring. Misty managed to contact her sisters and now there's a news article about Giovanni and how he's escaped his confines. Is he free to seek out revenge on our heroes?

Ash Title: Giovanni's Escape!

Everyone saw the redhead. She looked to be frozen in place, a frightened look on her face. "Misty?"

"He's escaped?" she asked again, her eyes starting to water. "That evil, _terr_ible man is free?"

"Sounds like it," Ash answered sympathetically. He stood up and headed over to the girl. "But don't worry, Misty. We won't let _any_thing happen to you."

Todd joined him. "Yeah, he'll have to get through us to get to you." He gave her a reassuring smile. "I won't let anything happen to you, Misty."

Ash gave Todd a look. He wasn't sure if *the boy was being a genuine friend, or if there was more to it.

"Th-thank you." Misty turned her attention to Brock, who had taken the paper back from Kenji. "H-how?"

"Don't cry, Misty!" Ash slightly panicked.

"Yeah, I…we'll keep you safe!"

Ash inwardly sighed. 'I wish he'd _stop_ that!'

Brock decided to read the article to the others. It read:

* * *

><p><span>Former Viridian City Gym Leader Escapes!<span>

Yesterday, Giovanni, the former Viridian City gym leader and head of the infamous crime organization, Team Rocket, has been released! The Viridian City police department no longer has the man in custody. He has been relocated to the Pokémon Penitentiary presumably located in *Yamabuki city, which is a facility for the mentally unstable. The exact known whereabouts of the penitentiary isn't allowed to be revealed at this time due to the privacy needed for Giovanni to recover.

"He kept claiming to have seen a 'bloody Growlithe with a slit throat', howling at him and torturing him. He has made several suicide attempts to get away from this alleged Growlithe, which no one has actually seen," says Warden Jenny of the Viridian City Prison. We _had_ to put him away for his own good!"

* * *

><p>"Wait, Giovanni's <em>psy<em>chic now?"

Kenji looked at the boy in pure amusement, in spite of himself, trying to hold back a laugh. "Ash, I think you mean psycho."

"Oh, yeah, that's right."

"Talk about a misleading title," Brock commented dryly. "At least we don't have to worry about him. He's obviously being monitored and watched over closely."

Everyone else may have been satisfied by this, but Misty, on the other hand, was furious.

"I want to know _how_ they came up with that kind of a title when it's not even true!"

"Journalists do that to get the readers' attention, Misty," Todd calmly explained, "and a headline like that, I'm sure worked."

"That's no excuse!" Misty cried as she, along with Ash and Todd, retook her seat.

"Is there any more information?" asked Kenji anxiously.

"No, not really. There's some stuff here about what other inmates thought of Giovanni, and they pretty much all said that he seemed to crack."

"So, does that mean Growlithe is _haun_ting him?" asked Ash.

Brock shrugged. "I guess so."

"Serves him right for what he did to Growlithe and my parents!"

"I know I'm glad," muttered Kenji sinisterly.

Misty shivered from the cold air that blew in every time the door opened now. She stood up. "I don't think our clothes are going to keep us warm for much longer."

After hearing this, Brock rolled up his newspaper and started to hum the tune to the funeral march.

"Oh, come on Brock; she can't be _that_ bad," Todd said.

"Wanna bet?" Ash and Brock said together while shuddering.

"Pikachu!" the rodent concurred in agreement with the trainer and breeder.

"Wait, what about the bill?" asked Misty while wiping pie off of Togepi's messy face.

"Oh, while you were gone, we took care of it. I paid the check."

"That was nice of you, Todd. How much do I owe you?"

"Oh, it's no problem, Mist." He gave her a smile. "Just consider it my treat."

Ash rolled his eyes, about ready to sock the photographer with his own camera for the way he seemed to be openly flirting with the redhead. Todd had insisted on the rest of them paying, but then the boy thought for a moment. 'Maybe he just decided not to let her pay because of the junk with Giovanni just now…but Kenji was affected by Giovanni too and Todd still made him pay.' He rose from his seat, and muttered in a bothered voice, "Let's get out of here."

"Oh wait, Ash." She handed him a miniature sphere. "It's Bulbasaur. All he needed was a good rest."

"Thanks Misty."

With everything settled, they headed back to the front counter of the center, but when reaching it, they saw Joya was in a completely different outfit. No longer in uniform, she was wearing an over-sized light-pink sweater, a pair of jeans, and boots. Brock was entranced.

"Joya-neesan, where's the nearest clothing store?"

"There's one not too far from here," she answered briefly. "It's over near the market east of here in our big shopping district."

"Thanks. Okay group, let's go!"

Ash started to march off, but soon realized he was being held back by Misty.

"Hold it Ash."

"What?"

"Knowing you, you'll probably get us lost."

"Would not!"

"Would to!"

"Would not!"

"Would to!"

Broken out of his stupor, due to the arguing, Brock shouted, "Ugh, just be quiet! Why are you two arguing?"

Both pointed to one another, and said, "He/She started it!"

Brock rubbed his head in frustration.

"Sorry, Brock. I guess it's just a habit sometimes," Ash said while apologizing.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You two are impossible," Brock sighed.

"Hey, there goes my sister."

Walking towards the counter was a girl, slightly older than Joya. The older Joya looked more like your "Nurse Joy" compared to the younger one. She was also already in uniform.

"Joya-nee!"

"Hey," she greeted. "I finished up earlier than I thought I would. Thanks for keeping things under control." She took her place behind the counter. "Who are your friends here?"

Joya introduced everyone, including Pikcahu, Togepi, and "the tall one, Mewtwo" and explained how they'd just arrived that morning.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she bowed.

Brock, as well as the others, greeted her back politely, but to the others' surprise, Brock didn't take any notice of the older girl. He didn't act girl-crazed, he didn't blush or drool or do anything Misty would've deemed "embarrassing".

"Jen and I had a good time shopping, but she had to help out her cousin, Officer Jen."

"_Off_icer Jen?"

"They wouldn't happen to be identical, would they?" Misty asked.

"Why yes, they do resemble each other. How'd you know?"

"Call it a hunch," Todd commented ironically.

"Sis, you should go out and enjoy the day, especially since it's snowing. It's so beautiful." She looked over at Ash and his companions. "Aren't you cold wearing those clothes?"

"Very," Misty shivered, "but we're about to go shopping for some new ones. All of our clothes are suited for tropical weather."

"I see. Sis, why don't you go along with them since they're new in town, and while you're at it, why not show them around?"

"It was sunny, bright, and a bit humid when we got here; how did it start snowing so suddenly?"

"Let's go guys," Joya answered quickly while pulling on a wool coat, ignoring Kenji's inquiry, almost as if she didn't hear him.

The girl took off, as if sprinting, towards the entrance, practically leaving the others behind. Brock seemed to float behind her, and the others trailed him.

After a while, the group arrived at a clothing store called, "_¡Todos los D__í__as de Invierno!_"

"Wait, what does that say?" questioned Ash, while staring at the sign in confusion.

"'Todos los días de invierno'," Todd answered dully. "It means, 'winter everyday' or 'all winter's days', pretty much."

"How'd you know that?"

"It's Spanish, Ash. Remember, I understand some of it."

"Oh yeah, you did say that…"

"This store specializes in winter attire and winter gear. It's the perfect place to come to buy all winter-related things before heading up to the mountains for ski trips. Skiing and snowboarding are very popular pastimes here," Joya explained. "Shall we go in?"

Misty was the first one through the door, as she was the coldest. The others started in, except for Mewtwo. He stared at the doors of the shop, his thoughts a bit scattered. He wanted to go in, but something was preventing him from doing so…he just couldn't explain it. "If you do not mind, I would rather remain out here."

"It's no problem, Mewtwo. We'll be back as soon as we can so you won't have to wait long."

Mewtwo nodded. "Please, do not rush on my account. Take as long as you need."

"Thanks Mewtwo."

The rest of the gang entered the store. Misty's eyes lit up over the variety of clothes that were around. There were so many stylish clothes, the girl couldn't make up her mind over what to buy.

While searching through the clothes together, Misty enjoyed talking with Joya. They were becoming quite friendly with one another.

Nearly an hour later, everyone was ready to go, except for Misty. She was _still_ trying to make a decision, despite the shopkeeper making recommendations. The shopkeeper started to speak in Spanish and English, Joya and Todd communicating with no problem at all, but soon started to speak in Japanese after noticing the perplexed looks of the others.

Misty exited the dressing room. "So, what do you guys think of this outfit?"

All four of them nodded vigorously, humoring her. "Yeah, yeah, great, wonderful, magnificent!" they all sputtered out.

"You really think so?" She checked herself over. "Nah, this shirt doesn't match my eyes…"

All four boys screamed in exasperation and face-faulted.

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked, following suit.

Togepi gleed and clapped.

Joya sweatdropped. "Um, you know, I think I may have some clothes I can lend you. I might be able to find something your size in my closet. We can alter it so that it'll be the perfect fit."

"That's really nice of you, Joya-san! Thanks a lot!" She turned to the boys. "Hey guys, we're going to Joya's!"

Brock and Kenji hugged each other, tears of joy streaming from their eyes, while Todd and Ash danced around joyously. "Yahoo, no more shopping!"

Meanwhile, outside of the shop, by the door, stood Mewtwo, seemingly nonplussed by the snowfall growing heavier or of the bystanders and those brave enough to enter and exit the shop. He stared blankly at the cloudy, grey sky, his thoughts still a bit muddled like earlier. It was a strange feeling, almost like he was losing control of his mind and thoughts.

Suddenly, he held his head, as if in extreme pain, but the only problem was that he couldn't determine what the cause was or even where it was coming from. He tried to mentally fight off whatever was causing his current discomfort, but couldn't even concentrate enough to meditate and focus. People passing by stopped, staring at the Pokémon who was now breathing unsteadily and having an internal struggle, unsure of what to do for him or even how to approach him. Most of the residents of the island had been cautious due to the random attacks.

Right at that moment, Ash and the others exited the store with their purchases. Despite not buying any actual clothes, Misty did get a couple things to hold her over.

"Hey Mewtwo. Sorry we took so long," Ash apologized. Mewtwo didn't say anything right away, but stared at the group with a confused, yet pleading look in his eye. "Mewtwo? Are you alright?"

"I m-must leave…I must m-m-meditate," he managed to get out, the urge to run growing. His voice then became robotic. "I have been summoned…"

"Summoned?"

"Mewtwo, where are you going?" asked Kenji inquiringly.

He held his head, his voice going back to normal. "Must…meditate…will return…later…" It then went back to the robotic tone. "Must leave…" he grunted.

Without saying another word, Mewtwo took for the sky, leaving a very confused group behind.

'I never knew he could fly…' Ash turned to the others. "That was…strange."

"I hope Mewtwo's okay." Kenji looked at the sky, a bit worried. "What did he mean? He had to meditate?"

Brock also looked on in worry. 'I hope that whatever's affecting Psychic Pokémon isn't affecting Mewtwo and that he's going off to meditate to fight it off…'

"I'm sure that Mewtwo will return after his task is complete," Joya insisted. "We should hurry. The snowfall is growing heavier."

Knowing there wasn't much they could do, they followed the young girl to her place, enjoying the "winter wonderland", minus Misty, whose teeth were chattering.

"Hm, still strange about Mewtwo, but maybe Joya-neesan is right…."

"Yeah, I guess so, now let's pick up the pace so I can get into some warm clothes. I'm _freezing_ here!"

"It's not _our_ fault that the only things you bought were a pair of socks, boots, and a coat. You should've picked up some pants, a sweater, a scarf, and other things like the rest of us did."

"When I _want_ your opinion, I'll _ask_ for it!"

"Chill guys," Brock instinctively stepped in to prevent an argument from breaking out.

"Misty is al_ready_ chilling! She's even the color for it!" Ash laughed boisterously. "She looks like a blue popsicle!"

"Who asked you!" Misty bonked Ash in the head with her fist, but he continued to laugh.

"Those two are an actual couple?" Joya asked Kenji, who was walking beside her.

"Yeah, but I sometimes think they like bickering. No real feelings seem to ever get hurt."

Growing tired of the spat, Todd walked in between the pair and wrapped an arm around both their shoulders. "I don't know about _you_ guys, but I could go for a nice warm drink, like some hot tea."

"Yeah, that would be nice," a settled down Misty agreed.

"We're nearly there. We just have to go down this back alley here. It's a shortcut."

Within about five minutes, the group arrived at a big house. It had two floors and a large attic room.

"Here we are. Let's go in."

Joya pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. She stepped out of her shoes, just as the others. "I'm very sorry that I don't have any slippers for you. We don't usually have so many visitors."

"No no, it's no problem," Brock insisted. "Thanks for kindly having us over."

After fully entering the surprisingly warm, cozy house, they all gazed over how spacey the house seemed to be. She led them to the living room, which had a television, a couch, a coffee table, and some cushy armchairs.

"Hey, who else lives here Joya-neesan?"

"I live here with my very best friend, Jen, my older sister, and her friend, Laura-san."

"It must be nice. I never have any girls to talk with."

"And _what's_ wrong with talking to us?"

"N-nothing."

"You don't like talking to me?"

"Ash stop being silly, of course I like talking to you."

"Then why don't you like talking to," he pointed to himself and the rest of the guys, "us?"

Both Kenji and Todd sighed out white puffy clouds over Ash's naiveté.

"Ash, don't you get it?"

"Get what, Brock?"

"Girl talk."

"Eh? What about it?"

"There are just some things that girls feel more comfortable discussing with other girls instead of us guys."

Ash stared blankly. "Oh."

"It's not that she doesn't like talking with us, it's just that we're too manly," he flexed his muscles, causing Misty to roll her eyes, and Joya to giggle, "for her to tell us everything."

"No we're not," Kenji whispered to the breeder, "it's just too scary for us to know."

Brock nearly face-faulted, but quickly recovered. "Y-yeah…"

"Everyone, please make yourselves comfortable and I can hang up your coats." After taking their coats, she turned to Misty. "Let's see what we can do about your clothes. Shorts and a midriff is much too thin for this weather. Please come with me."

Misty followed Joya out of the room, up the stairs. The rest remained in the living room. Kenji and Brock decided to watch television, curious as to what language the programs would be in. The shows they flipped through seemed to be dubbed into various languages, the main ones being Chinese, Korean, and English, but there was an option to change it to the original audio, which was, seemingly, Japanese. As for Todd and Pikachu, with Togepi following not too far behind, decided to look around the rest of the first floor of the house, as the older girl did say to make themselves comfortable.

Ash was pacing around the living room, jaded and antsy, wishing he could go out and train. "I don't have anything to do."

"Look at TV," Brock suggested vaguely, holding the remote out to him. "We're done with it."

Ash took the remote and surfed through a few random channels. He then shut off the television, and tossed the remote aside. Grumbling, he went back to pacing the room blandly, as he had quite a bit on his mind and desperately needed a distraction. "Nothing's on!"

"Stop complaining!" Kenji snapped petulantly. "There isn't much you _can_ do!"

Ash stopped pacing and gave Kenji a look, taken aback, just as Brock was. "What's eating you?"

"I'm sorry Ash. I guess I'm just frustrated over all that's happened so far since nothing makes sense. First it was day, then it became night. The weather was maybe suitable for late spring, and now it feels like we're right in the middle of winter. Mewtwo taking off has me a little bothered too…"

"Hey, remember Professor Oak said something about this place being enchanted," Todd said as he entered the room, overhearing the artist. "Maybe it's actually true."

"But that's scientifically impossible," Kenji retorted.

"I just thought he lost it and didn't actually know and was humoring us," Brock commented. "I just thought he was being eccentric again."

"What do you mean, 'again'? He's, unfortunately, like that a lot," Kenji countered, although reluctantly, given his high respect and idolization of the professor. "He's still smart, only a bit unmindful at times."

Ash, at the moment, didn't care much at all. "I guess you're right," he finally said, slumping down on the couch.

Due to all of the discussion amongst the four boys, neither heard the front door open and shut. A young tired-looking girl started walking past the living room, holding a few bags, when she finally noticed the four males in her home.

Startled, she dropped her bags, got into a fighting stance, giving them all suspicious looks. "Who are you?!"

Everyone looked over at the girl in surprise, especially Kenji, who was actually studying the girl. He didn't understand why he felt this urge to talk to the girl who had a familiarity about her.

"Well, I'm waiting! Who _are_ you?!"

"W-well, we're…um…I'm…"

"Kenji, are you okay?" Ash asked.

"What's wrong with him?" Todd muttered.

Brock couldn't answer, as he was surprised over the peculiar behavior of the artist.

As if hypnotized, Kenji made his way towards the - to him - enigma that stood before them. He reached out to her, to assure her that they weren't enemies or to be feared, but the girl reacted in the blink of an eye. She grabbed Kenji by the arm, turned her back to him, tossed him over her shoulder, and slammed him hard to the floor. Dazed, he sat up, wincing while holding his back.

"Hey, what'd you do _that_ for!" Todd argued defensively.

"Yeah, he didn't do anything to you!"

"Pika!"

"C'mon guys, stop being rude to the girl."

"BROCK!"

"You're in _my_ home," the girl told them while stepping over the artist, her guard still up. "Do not underestimate me! I am a master of Kung Fu and Karate and have studied Judo. I've studied with the best, such as my good friend *Kino Makoto, who lives on the island of Japan in the city of Tokyo. I have also studied different kenjutsu techniques and also studied Kendo with my cousin *Daté Seiji, who also lives in Japan on the outskirts of Sendai, meaning I am _very_ skilled with the swords!"

Both Joya and Misty heard all of the commotion and rushed to see what was going on. Misty was now wearing a pair of slightly baggy jeans, with a belt, and a bright, white turtleneck sweater.

When they reached the room, they saw Kenji on the floor and the martial artist about to attack the rest of the "intruders".

"Jen-chan, I know these people!"

Jen lowered her guard, and stance. "You know them?" The girl nodded. "Oh, well…what did you ex_pect_ me to think…four guys in our home, looking suspicious…"

"Didn't you notice the shoes at the entrance?"

"Um, well…no I didn't," she admitted bashfully. "I was so tired, I let my guard down." Jen went back over to Kenji and knelt down beside him and offered her hand to him. "I'm sorry," she apologized, while studying him. There was something strange about this boy…almost like she'd met him before, but figured it was nothing. Her sense was off, she figured. "I-I thought you were going to attack me." She gave him a small, apologetic smile.

He took her hand and responded goofily, "Th-that's okay."

Ash could only shake his head at the sight of his older friend. "What is _wrong_ with him?"

Todd frowned. "I think that slam affected his brain."

The nearly 18-year-old Jen was about 163 cm (about 5'4) tall and had long, aqua-greenish type hair, which was tied back into a ponytail which came halfway down her back. There was something about her that resembled Officer Jenny, but it wasn't much. She was wearing a thick coat and a muffler, but underneath, she was wearing a close-fitting white sweater and a pair of jeans.

Kenji, nervously, made his way back to his seat, but seemed to slightly trip in the process. It was like the part of his brain that completely controlled his motor skills was on a temporary vacation. After reaching his seat, his face went slightly red in embarrassment, realizing how foolish he had to have come across.

"I really think something's wrong with Kenji."

":I think I know what's wrong, Ash.:"

"What'd Pikachu say?"

Misty pulled both boys aside. "He said that he thinks he knows what's wrong, and I think I do too."

"What?" both clueless boys asked.

":It's so obvious!:"

"Look at the way he's acting." Both boys looked towards the boy, who was now having trouble forming a coherent sentence and his thoughts seemed scattered every time Jen tried addressing him.

"Still doesn't explain much," Ash murmured.

"Oh no," Todd sighed in annoyance, "not another one."

"Huh, what?"

"I think he's fallen for that martial arts girl."

"I know, right! Did you _see_ the way she _slammed_ him?! She has to be strong to pick him up and then toss him the way that she did, since there's a height difference and definitely a weight difference. Think she could've done the same to Brock?"

Ash stopped, when he noticed Todd's brow was twitching.

"He _likes_ her you dope!" Todd snapped in a whisper.

"Oh," he finally realized, "and I am _not_ a dope!"

The photographer ignored him, and continued on somberly. "Love causes people to act dumb. I've never been in love and probably never will. I actually re_fuse_ to let myself fall for someone."

"But Todd, love is a wonderful thing and it's so romantic!"

"Yeah, whatever, Mist," Todd scoffed.

She studied the boy, and scratched her head in curiosity. 'I guess he's never fallen for anyone, but maybe he'll change his mind once he does.'

Ash pulled Todd aside. "What's your problem! You didn't have to be rude there. Besides, what do you mean you've never liked anyone or been in love. Haven't you forgotten something?"

"What?"

He lowered his voice a bit more, so that Misty wouldn't hear. "When we met up with you on our way to Viridian, since you'd always kept contact with Misty, you were planning on confessing to her, weren't you? What do you call that?"

Todd barked out a small laugh. "No way, that was different."

"How?"

"I had a small crush on her and got over that weeks ago. Besides, I _liked_ her, not _loved_ her. There's a difference. How could anyone our age understand all that mushy love stuff anyway?"

Ash blinked. He'd never thought about it before. He enjoyed being around Misty a lot and would hate to see her harmed in any way or see her upset…but at the same time, he also felt that way about all of his friends. What made Misty different? Was it love? _Was_ he too young to fully understand it?

Unable to dwell on it for long, his train of thought was broken by Jen's playful voice. "What are you guys doing over there by yourselves?" She took notice of the small rodent by Ash's side. "Oh, what a cute Pikachu!"

":No one can resist my charm.:"

Jen rushed over and picked up Pikachu, hugging him tightly.

"Be careful, Pikachu doesn't like strangers."

"Oh don't worry. I know how to handle Pikachu and lots of other types of Pokémon, Satoshi was it?" He nodded. "And you're Kasumi, right?" She nodded. "What kind of Pokémon is that? It's cute too." Jen set Pikachu down and picked up Togepi. "I've studied about many types and species of Pokémon, but I've never seen this type before at all."

"Ash gave him to me."

"No he didn't," Brock corrected. "Togepi _chose_ you."

"Well, yeah, but Ash could've tried getting him back since he did win Togepi fair and square, but he didn't."

"I guess I figured since Togepi was so attached to you, that he'd be better off with you and you have all that motherly instinct stuff going on."

"Not to mention that you would've gotten a tre_men_dous headache if you would've tried to get Togepi back," Brock whispered quickly.

"You said it."

Misty rounded on the two. "What'd you two say about me?!"

"S-so Jen-san," Brock began, "what do you do?"

"I'm interested in many things, but I'm most interested in Pokémon sciences. I want to become a researcher of them and am most interested in the physiology and biology of Pokémon. Think of how much you learn just by studying their biology and how much we can help sick Pokémon by creating better medicines for them or understanding how their bodies function!"

She sighed.

"Too bad my entire family are law officials and because of this, I've been trained in different martial arts techniques since I was about two years old. Learning new moves and techniques always came easy to me and I never confuse them. I started learning Kung Fu alongside the others because my family felt it would be good to learn something more "foreign". Aikido is the most recent art I'm studying.

"It's like because of my family's name, I'm supposed to train to become an officer or some other branch that helps to enforce the law, but I'm the black sheep of my family. I'm practically changing tradition.

"I was actually supposed to have studied with a wise Pokémon Researcher by the name of Professor Oak. He resides in a small town on the mainland, but my family wouldn't allow me to attend any of his seminars or lectures, but I do it anyway. He is allowing me to study under him online.

"He told me that he prefers doing such things in person, but since I was so passionate about it, he's allowing me to learn from him in this way. After I'm done, I can test to become a certified Pokémon scientist and work my way up by interning to gather experience.

"The only ones who actually know about this are Joya-chan, her sister, and Laura-chan. If my parents find out about this, they'd disown me as their daughter and complain about bringing shame to our family's name for breaking such a tradition going back so many generations."

"You should pursue your dream and be whatever you want to be without anyone standing in your way," Misty replied sympathetically. "At least Joya-san here actually _wants_ to become a nurse because she chooses to."

"Actually, to be completely honest, I don't _really_ want to settle on being a nurse, but I am highly interested in Pokémon medical treatments. I want to become a doctor of not only humans but Pokémon too. It's just like Jen-chan, family influence. The females in my family usually go into nursing because we're women and my family believes that women aren't capable of being doctors. 'Women should only be nurses', my father said when I told him of my dream of becoming an actual doctor. I have such an old-fashioned family. I'm studying to become a doctor at Kage Island University.

"The only ones who actually understand my dream of my family, is my older sister, the one you met earlier. She's also helping me study for the big exam given next year for those wanting to become certified Pokémon doctors. I still have a lot of extra studying to do to specialize in human medicine, but I can become a nurse practitioner.

"Right now, working at the Pokémon Center is like an internship and part of my training, which covers breeding, healing, diagnosing, and differentiating between Pokémon injuries and side effects from battle. I'm going to continue studying hard! Even if I can't become a doctor of humans, and remain on a nursing level, I'm truly determined to become a Pokémon doctor!"

"Sounds like you guys have very complicated families," Todd said.

"You know, Jen-san," Ash started, "I know Professor Oak. He gave me Pikachu. I'm from *Masara Town."

"Wait, so did you learn about Lunar Beam from him?"

"Yeah, he was the one who randomly mentioned it to me."

"You _know_ Professor Oak personally?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, he's been a friend of my family for as far back as I can remember, especially after my father went on his…_jour_ney," Ash forced out. Misty looked over at the boy sadly, realizing how difficult it had to have been to, well, lie. "I also grew up with his grandson."

"That's awesome! Hey, since you guys are new here, why don't you sightsee for a while? I don't have any classes today since the university is in the spring holiday, and I don't have any forced police academy training with my cousin today, or any language lessons, and Professor Oak cancelled his lessons until after the Pokémon League. I still have to do my training," she looked over at Kenji, "but I'm sure that I can skip the sessions for a couple of nights."

"Sure, we wouldn't mind joining you!" Kenji spoke up a bit too enthusiastically. Realizing that his voice had come out louder than he'd meant for it to, he quieted down, his face going red once again.

Jen giggled. "Well, I guess you guys are hanging with us."

"Jen-chan, where's Laura-san?"

"Oh yeah, she went to pick up her younger cousin. She's going to be staying here with us for a while, but for tonight anyway, Laura-chan won't be."

"Why?"

"She has to work the late shift at the hospital, so instead of coming all the way here, she's going to stay at her boyfriend's place since it's closer."

"She was supposed to have tonight free, too. I guess it was sudden her having to work if she's leaving her cousin here. She is only a Nurse's Aide, but her job is very important. Is the cousin she's bringing the cute one with that pink blobby Pokémon? They're kind of rare around here."

"Yeah, the one with the Ditto. Maybe when she gets here, she'll get along pretty well with," she motioned to Ash, Misty, and Todd, "them. They're about her age, so they would probably have a lot in common."

"Jen-chan, that's a great idea!"

"Wait, what is?"

"It's been so long since we've had a full house!" She turned to the others. "Takeshi-san, Kenji-san, how would you and your friends like staying here for the night instead of going to a hotel or the Pokémon Center?"

"Wait, is that really okay?" asked Brock.

"Y-yeah, we wouldn't want to intrude," Kenji added on, his demeanor back to normal.

"It'll be no problem at all," Joya insisted.

"We have the extra space since two of our roommates will be away tonight."

"Two?"

"Yeah, your sister is staying at a friend's place tonight."

"Wait…why?"

"Um…I'll tell you about it later, but it's for the same reason as Laura-chan. I went by the center looking for you, but she was so busy, she could only tell me that you'd gone home. Didn't even mention that you had company…but yeah, same situation as Laura-chan." She mouthed out quickly to the girl, "There was another attack, a big one this time…"

'Oh no! If both of them have to deal with it, then some Pokémon must were hurt and I guess sis will have to help out at the hospital as well as the center since the hospital has been understaffed lately.'

"Let's wait around for Laura-chan. I was going to head back out, but since we have guests, let's hold out on that."

"Sure. Guys, please help yourselves to anything."

Curious, Ash asked if they had any gaming systems.

"Jen-chan has all of that stuff. I've never been good at video games. Anyway, I'll go prepare us some tea," Joya offered while exiting the room.

"I can help too!" Brock called, following behind her. After finding out more regarding her aspirations, Brock was even more interested in speaking with her and learning more about her.

The group engaged in conversation more, which included a calmer Kenji, talking with Jen about what she'd studied and learned from Professor Oak, and Joya and Brock brought in tea for everyone. This continued on until they heard a voice call out, "I'm back!"

The owner of the voice walked towards the living room area. "Hey, is anyone else here? I saw a lot of shoes at the door." She peaked in, noticing Ash and his friends, and retracted her question. "Oh, never mind then," she said with a small laugh.

"Welcome home, Laura-san," Joya greeted.

"I'm sorry I can't stay long. I took a quick break just to pick up my cousin in the shipping yard. I have to get back to work."

"Where is she?"

"She's putting her coat away."

"So, why do you have to work so late?" Jen asked, wanting to make sure the information she'd received earlier was correct.

"You know, another attack," she whispered to the two younger girls with a tired sigh. "Your sister and I have a lot of work to do, and once she's done at the center, she's going to help out at the hospital."

"I should be helping!" Joya insisted.

"No no, don't worry about it. You've been working and studying hard lately. Enjoy your break. You don't have anymore classes until…late April, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then enjoy it. Leave everything to your sister and me! To be honest, you _and_ Jen deserve a rest, especially Jen with all the stuff she's doing and studying, especially all those languages both of you are trying to learn."

"It'll help when dealing with foreign visitors with Pokémon," Joya explained.

"Yeah, and it'll help me when speaking with other scientists about their research and so I can read more than just Japanese scientific journals."

"That is true," the woman nodded.

Right at that moment, a girl much younger than that of Laura, Jen, and Joya entered the room. "Hi," she greeted, her smile beaming.

Ash, Misty, and Brock stared at the girl in surprise.

"Hey guys, what's up?"  
>x x x x<p>

Author's Notes

Note 1: In the last fic, it was obvious that Todd had a bit of a crush on Misty. Todd also sacrificed himself twice for her sake. Once when facing Team Rocket, who were about to kill her, and again when going up against Mewtwo. Mewtwo used an attack and Todd pushed Misty out of the way getting hit in the process. He actually did admit to Ash that he did like her a bit, but backed off when seeing what was going on between the trainer and Misty.

For this fic, it's almost like Todd _may _still have some feelings for her, hence why, so far, he's written to comment on the mushiness between Ash and Misty, yet defend them, or why he's quick to want to help Misty. It's like an unconscious response and more so instinctive to want to help her or cheer her up.  
>x x x<br>Note 2: Yamabuki city is the original name for Saffron city.  
>x x x<br>Note 3: Kino Makoto and Daté Seiji. If you don't know, I am a fan of both Sailor Moon and Yoroiden Samurai Troopers aka Ronin Warriors outside of Japan. As a matter of fact, Yoroiden Samurai Troopers is my all-time favorite anime series period. Anyway, the information I used for both is actually canon. Seiji, who was my favorite Trooper, is from the Miyagi prefecture and from Sendai city. Makoto (Jupiter) is from Tokyo, the Minato ward. She was a resident of Azabujuuban (which is an awesome place to visit). Sendai too. lol

In one of my older fics, a Sailor Moon one that's been on hiatus for _years_, Jen is a character in that story, but it takes place with her about three or four years younger. Her character grew up in Tokyo, until being forced to move to Kage Island.  
>x x x<p>

Note 4: Masara Town is Pallet Town's original name from the Kanto region. Ironically, in Japan, there is an actual place called "Palette Town" in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan. It's a large shopping and entertainment district, though which consists of the famous Zepp Tokyo music venue and the famous Venus Fort mall. It also has a big Ferris Wheel.  
>x x x<p>

Fic Chapter Changes

If you manage to find the original, one thing that's being cut back on a lot is Todd's coming across as liking Misty consciously. There are less of those, "I'll…I mean, we'll protect you…" type of moments.

I actually decided to add in a location of the penitentiary Giovanni was sent to.

Something I forgot to do originally, was have at least one of the group wonder if Mewtwo's actions had anything to do with the Psychic Pokémon issue going on.

Just like with Brock, I cut back on Kenji acting lovesick and goofy over Jen.

The discussion that Todd and Ash had was more simplistic and short. Todd mentioned that they were too young to know what "love" truly was, which was added in, and that prompted Ash to think about it himself, something else that wasn't originally here.

Had Joya explain that she not only wanted to study Pokémon medicine, but human medicine as well and that she would like to become a professional dealing with both, but would settle on nursing for humans and being a doctor for Pokémon. Originally, I had her mention this later when Brock complimented her when helping one of the others with their injury and how she should practice in human medicine as well.

Mentioned more about language study and gave a reason why they were studying so much. Originally, I didn't even infer that the two girls were possibly multilingual.

This wasn't a fourth wall joke by RP (sort of), but was actually incorporated into the story. The scene was random, though. After Joya mentioned that they could do whatever they wanted, Ash asked if they had an N64 with Pokémon Stadium or Pokémon Snap. Todd went on about receiving royalties for that game and the girls made the connection. Pikachu randomly brought up wanting to buy a new ketchup dispenser and then Ash was wondering how he could afford such things, as Ash didn't give him money. Pikachu shared his secret and tossed Ash a Gameboy Color cartridge. Pokémon Yellow "Special Pikachu Edition". RP then got involved "crying" over how the game was sold out, but was looking forward to buying Pokémon Stadium that upcoming March.

I decided to cut out Todd's reaction to Laura's cousin. It felt forced anyway, just like with Kenji and Brock earlier.


End file.
